Overnight Covid-19 Cases Exceed 2,000

EghtesadOnline: Daily coronavirus cases reported by Iran crossed the 2,000 mark once again on Friday, the highest overnight tally since April 7, health officials announced.

News ID: ۷۵۰۰۴۳

16 May 2020

While Iran experienced its worst pandemic day in over a month on Friday with 2,102 reported infections, Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour sees the spike as the direct result of a more aggressive testing program, ISNA reported.

“More than 80% of identified cases in the past 24 hour displayed mild symptoms. Only 385 were hospitalizations recorded by the healthcare system,” Jahanpour added.

The health official noted that rapid testing has been key in the early detection and isolation of new patients.

“We hope to facilitate the containment of the outbreak through active surveillance and identification of more patients with mild symptoms,” he said.

Iran’s new cases took the national total to over 116,000. Fatalities from the viral infection rose by 48 to 6,902.

According to Jahanpour, almost 90,000 have recovered and 2,700 are in critical condition.

Iran has so far carried out more than 658,000 coronavirus tests since the outbreak was first identified in the central city of Qom, the first epicenter of the virus in the country.

The Health Ministry spokesman urged the public to observe social distancing measures.

While Jahanpour only named the provinces of Tehran and Khuzestan to warn against the increasing number of infections in recent days, he also called on the people of the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan, western Lorestan and East Azarbaijan in his Friday briefing to respect social distancing measures.

The government official pointed out that Khuzestan is still on red alert and the three provinces are expected to see a rise in hospitalizations.

Turning Point

President Hassan Rouhani on Friday expressed his gratitude to the nation for observing social distancing measures on Laylat al-Qadr, Iran’s first religious gathering amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rouhani said, “The people have cooperated with healthcare providers since the outbreak began and their cooperation in holding the religious event was a turning point in the fight against the illness.”

Under the government’s Smart Distancing Initiative, activities across the country are returning to conditions. While Iran had only allowed low- and medium-risk businesses to resume operation, the national coronavirus taskforce is gradually reopening high-risk places of business such as beauty parlors and dental clinics.

The latest reopening announcement was for public libraries that will resume work on Monday with changes made to employee attendance and opening hours.

More than 4.5 million have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and 300,000 have died worldwide. It will be at least a year before vaccinations are expected to become available for public use.