‘Catastrophic’: Iran stories report rise in COVID-19 circumstances | Center East

The highest one-day increase of 4,151 new COVID-19 infections is reported in the hardest-hit country in the Middle East.

Iran has reported a record number of more than 4,000 new cases of COVID-19 as most of the country is on high alert over the coronavirus pandemic.

The highest increase of 4,151 infections in a day in the past 24 hours has brought the number of identified cases in the hardest-hit country in the Middle East to 479,825, the Ministry of Health reported Tuesday.

Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state television that 227 COVID-19 patients had also died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 27,419.

The grim record was announced the day after Iran reported 235 deaths, the record number of fatalities on July 28th.

According to official figures, the majority of Iran’s 32 provinces are currently rated as red on a color-coded scale that indicates the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak – the highest level.

The situation in the capital Tehran has deteriorated. Provincial authorities say masks will have to be worn in all public places in the capital from Saturday to stop the spread.

Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig reported from Tehran that the authorities were “very concerned” about a “third wave” of the pandemic.

“Officials have raised concerns, describing the situation here as ‘catastrophic’, ‘tsunami’ and ‘critical’,” he said.

Schools, libraries, mosques and other public facilities in Tehran closed for a week on Saturday in an attempt to contain the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.

Similar closures have also been imposed in Zanjan province, northwest of Tehran, and in cities in several other provinces that are closing museums, theaters, gyms, cafes and hairdressing salons, state media said.

Officials have complained that many have violated regulations on wearing face masks and some families have used travel bans to spread the virus at a time when hospitals are almost full.

“If people keep taking weekend trips … our patients may need to go to field hospitals,” Masoud Mardani, a member of the state coronavirus task force, told the KhabarOnline website.

Al Jazeeras Baig said there was “coronavirus fatigue” in the country and health protocol compliance dropped from 80 percent to about 40 percent when the virus first hit the country in February.

Due to coronavirus concerns, Iran has banned flights to Iraq to block travel by Iranians to the neighboring country for the annual pilgrimage to Arbaeen, which attracts large crowds. The land borders with Iraq have also been closed.

After the flights to Turkey were stopped, the Iranian civil aviation organization announced on Monday that one flight per day in each direction was permitted.

The pandemic has also severely hit Iran’s weak economy, which has already been crippled by the United States’ economic sanctions imposed on the country’s nuclear program.

Comments are closed.