Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi announced on Wednesday that all schools in Punjab, including Lahore, will be closed on Thursday, September 28, due to an increasing conjunctivitis outbreak.
This preemptive step aims to stop the extremely infectious eye illness among kids from spreading further.
Students up to the matriculation course will be subject to screening at school gates beginning on Monday in addition to the day off.
People who show symptoms of the virus will be told to get medical help right away, and they won't be permitted to access the school grounds until they are no longer contagious.
Conjunctivitis is a contagious eye ailment that results in redness, irritation, and discharge from the eyes. Schools are a high-risk area for transmission because it may spread quickly via direct or indirect contact.
The school holiday will apply to all students up to matriculation classes.
To reduce the danger of transmission, the school's grounds will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized throughout this period.
It is pertinent to mention here that cases of vision impairment caused by sub-standard eye injections have surfaced in Bahawalpur and Multan cities in Punjab province.
According to the sources, a person affected by vision impairment in Bahawalpur said that he received an injection from a private hospital on September 21, after which his sight went away.
Bahawalpur District Health Authority CEO said that the records of the distributors are also being checked, adding that two private eye hospitals have used these injections, after which the stocks of all hospitals in the city are being checked.
On the other hand, according to the CEO of Health Multan, Dr. Faisal, there have been cases of more patients being affected by the injection. A week ago, seven patients were injected at a private clinic. Patients are called back for checkups, he added.
Dr. Faisal said that the data of injection-affected patients is also being collected from private clinics, and the supply of injections in the city has been stopped immediately. Three injection-affected patients are also undergoing treatment at Nishtra Hospital.
It should be noted that so far, 68 patients have come forward due to substandard injections in Punjab.
After the case of eye damage caused by injections in Punjab, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has instructed hospitals and pharmacies across the country not to use and sell sub-standard injections.