New Coronavirus Cases in Iran to Decline in Coming Weeks: Official

Date: 25 February 2020 - 22:02

News ID: ۷۶۵۷۵

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization on Tuesday assured people that the number of new cases of the novel coronavirus in the country will decline in the weeks to come.
Jalali hailed the "national resolve and the coordination at the highest administrative levels” following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran, saying the efforts have resulted to "relative containment” of the disease.
It means that the number of new cases in Iran will decrease in the coming weeks and the progression of the infectious disease will enter the period of decline, he added.
The official also denounced the enemies’ propaganda campaign against Iran amid the outbreak of the coronavirus, saying the adversaries are attempting to accuse the Iranian health system of falsifying the truth about the number of infected cases and the status of the patients, portray Iran’s healthcare organizations as impotent by giving an incorrect comparison between Iran and other countries, overplay the deficiencies, censor the positive and promising reports from inside Iran, and foment fear in the public by spreading false news.
Brigadier General Jalali further stressed that the national efforts to contain coronavirus should not be politicized.
On Monday, the head of the Iranian Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights Ali Baqeri-Kani said countries imposing sanctions on supply of medicine to Iran are "murderers of human beings” and lack qualification to be members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
Baqeri-Kani made the remarks while addressing the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, where he described the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran as the "most recent grave and systematic violation of human rights.”
Emphasizing that "the Iranian nation is the major victim of such a violation,” Baqeri-Kani said, "The United States has created an international sanction regime which amounts to a systematic violation of human rights at an international level.”
"This new policy in practice has prevented the access to medicine and basic needs by those who are in need,” the Iranian rights official said, adding, "Those who impose sanctions on medicine are not only violators of human rights but also murderers of human beings. And those who impose sanctions on life-saving medicine are not eligible to be a member of the Human Rights Council.”
Refuting U.S. claims that its anti-Iran sanctions do not cover supply of medicine, the official said, "Although the U.S. claims that basic needs such as pharmaceutical and commodities are not sanctioned, access to the most basic human needs are blocked due to the sanctions imposed on international financial transactions and banking.”
Baqeri-Kani slammed U.S. allies and some other countries for following the U.S. sanctions policy against Iran and said, "To preserve their political and economic benefits, many states that may not approve such sanctions, not only have failed to oppose such inhuman treatment, but also supported these policies by succumbing to them.”
"These acts are not only the collective punishment of a nation, but also a modern method of violation of human rights, which should be put high on the agenda of the Human Rights Council,” he added.
Iran’s Vice Health Minister Iraj Harirchi announces that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but expresses certitude that the country will overpower the epidemic over the upcoming weeks.
"I contracted coronavirus, too,” Harirchi said in a video that surfaced.
He stated that he had entered "isolation” and started treatment, but said his general health condition was favorable, and that he was currently just experiencing fever and fatigue.
Harirchi also said he was certain that the country would come out victorious in the face of the outbreak "in the next couple of weeks,” saying he was giving the assurance "wholeheartedly” as the country had the "effective treatment” at its disposal.
Deputy to Iran’s Prosecutor General Saeid Omrani warned that practices like hoarding will not be tolerated during a surge of coronavirus in the country.
Omrani said that the harshest penalties await those hoarding protective gears meant to confront coronavirus like face masks and disinfectants.
"There would be zero tolerance against hoarders and profiteers of these data-x-items and judges are supposed to hand down the most severe punishments to these people,” said Omrani.
According to Iran’s Health Ministry, the number of people who have died from the coronavirus in the country has risen to 15 and the total number of confirmed cases to 95.
At least 24 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered from the disease after being admitted to the hospital.