COVID-19 Restrictions Extended in Tehran, Elsewhere

Date: 26 October 2020 - 21:43

News ID: ۸۴۱۹۳

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran extended COVID-19 curbs in Tehran and across the country on Monday as health authorities said they were recording a death from the virus every four minutes.
Some hospitals had run out of beds to treat new patients, the head of the national coronavirus task-force told national TV. "Our doctors and nurses are tired. I urge everyone to respect the protocols,” Alireza Zali said.
The health ministry in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country reported 337 new deaths and 5,960 new cases over the past 24 hours. A banner on national TV said that amounted to a death every four minutes.
Authorities have complained of poor social distancing, and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said last week the death count could soon rise to 600 a day if Iranians fail to respect health protocols.
"We asked for fines to be collected from anyone who doesn’t wear a mask,” Saeed Namaki said last week, referring to the government’s new mandate for Tehran, the capital. "But go and find out how many people were fined. We said close roads, and yet how many did they close?”
The closure of schools, mosques, shops, restaurants and other public institutions in Tehran, that was due to end on Monday, would now be extended until Nov. 20.
"Extreme measures and limitations” will be imposed for one week in at least 43 counties where the infection rates have been alarming, the TV report added, citing officials. It added that 21 of Iran’s 31 provinces were on a coronavirus red alert.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei took aim at authorities on Saturday. He demanded for the first time they prioritize public health over "the security and economic aspects” of the pandemic.
"When the Health Ministry determines restrictions, all agencies must observe and enforce them without taking into account other considerations,” the Leader said.
Tehran has blamed U.S. sanctions for hampering its efforts to tackle the outbreak. Washington has refused to lift sanctions that were reimposed after 2018 when President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers.
Monday’s data took Iran’s total death toll to 32,953 and the number of identified cases to 574,856, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the U.S. administration a "cruel collaborator” of the coronavirus, saying that the Islamic Republic will never forget Washington’s "inhumane” sanctions.
"Corona’s proven deadly, vicious & brutal everywhere, but it’s worse in Iran as it has a cruel collaborator: U.S. regime. U.S. has elevated max pressure to Health Terrorism & targeted Iranian people with inhumane sanctions while they’re fighting the pandemic. We’ll overcome but NEVER forget,” the ministry said in a tweet on Monday.