Pakistani authorities announced that schools would reopen Wednesday in Punjab, the country's most populated province, after a drop in dangerous air pollution.Schools have been closed for nearly two weeks in the province as dense smog remained at "hazardous" levels.

Pakistan's Punjab declared a health emergency due to toxic smog on Friday, banning construction, shutting schools for another week and moving universities online, with a three-day lockdown possible, the province's senior minister said on Friday.

The government of Pakistan’s most polluted province has launched a new policy to address a protracted smog crisis, after the world’s worst air shuttered schools and saw 900 people seek hospital treatment in a single day.