Iran Virus Cases Top 40,000 as Prisoners
Riot
A
member of the Iranian army walks past beds at a temporary hospital for COVID-19
patients set up by the army at the international exhibition center in Tehran,
Iran, March 26, 2020. (AP)
Asharq
Al-Awsat
A
member of the Iranian army walks past beds at a temporary hospital for COVID-19
patients set up by the army at the international exhibition center in Tehran,
Iran, March 26, 2020. (AP)
Asharq
Al-Awsat
The number of declared coronavirus infections in Iran topped
40,000 Monday, as the government warned the outbreak could run for several more
months and cost over 10,000 lives.
With the tally climbing, President Hassan Rouhani stood accused of
failing to take prompt action by some of his political opponents.
The row came as a report by Iran's anti-coronavirus committee said
the country may struggle with the outbreak until at least early summer.
Parviz
Karami, who published the study on Instagram, said 11,000 people would die in
case of "medium government intervention", including measures already
taken by Iran.
Potential
fatalities could drop to 7,700 with "maximum" intervention, such as
banning movement inside cities and imposing quarantines, he said.
Health
ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said Monday another 117 people had died
from the virus over the past 24 hours and 3,186 new cases had been confirmed,
raising the total to more than 41,000.
The
death toll had reached 2,757.
According
to Jahanpour, 13,911 of those hospitalized have recovered, while 3,511 are in
critical condition.
Iran is
one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic. It has been scrambling to
contain COVID-19's spread since it reported its first cases on February 19.
After
weeks of refraining from imposing a lockdown or quarantine measures, Tehran
decided last Wednesday to ban all intercity travel until at least April 8.
There is no official lockdown in Iran's cities although the
government has repeatedly urged Iranians to stay at home to contain the spread
of the virus.
Rouhani's political opponents argued Monday that it was all too little,
too late.
'Political
war'
"Coronavirus
could have been more quickly contained" if measures such as "social
distancing and limitations had been considered sooner", judiciary chief
Ebrahim Raisi said, quoted by ISNA news agency.
Raisi,
an ultra-conservative who ran against Rouhani in the 2017 presidential
election, said that "time is of the essence".
The
Iranian people had started "cooperating" only after authorities
appeared to take the threat seriously, the official said.
Mohammad
Bagher Ghalibaf, a veteran conservative who also stood against Rouhani, charged
the administration has mismanaged the crisis.
He
accused the authorities of "ignoring reality" and "unjustified
optimism".
Rouhani
had "worsened the crisis, then asked for help and put the blame on
others", Ghalibaf tweeted.
The
criticism came as Rouhani called on opponents to assist the government's
efforts.
"This
is not a time for gathering followers. This is not a time for political
war," the president said.
Government
spokesman Ali Rabiei on Monday defended the measures adopted by the
administration at a time that the country was under crippling US sanctions.
Washington
withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposed sanctions
on Iran in 2018, targeting the crucial oil and banking sectors, among
others.
The
administration had taken the necessary steps "once notified" of the
COVID-19 outbreak, Rabiei told a news conference.
Its
approach had been to try to ensure "that both physical distance be kept
and people's everyday lives not be disturbed", he said.
"These
two make sense together in an economy under sanctions."
According
to Rabiei, the administration has endorsed a $6-billion rescue package to fend
off the damage from the outbreak.
It
included low-interest loans to businesses to prevent a spike in unemployment
and cash handouts to impoverished Iranians.
Some
of Iran's top hospitals are experimenting with stem cells to "balance
immune system response" in infected patients and find a treatment,
according to ISNA.
Iran also
said Monday it has started mass production of "highly accurate"
coronavirus testing kits that could produce results within 3 hours.
Prison
riot
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