Rouhani Announces New Plans to Fight Coronavirus in Iran

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday announced news measures by the government to fight the outbreak of coronavirus across the Islamic Republic and hoped they would cut the coronavirus transmission chain within two weeks.

Making the remark in a session of the economic committee of Iran's anti-coronavirus headquarters, Rouhani hailed the efforts made by the officials at the Ministry of Health as well as the medical staff across the country including doctors and nurses who are on the frontlines of the battle against the deadly virus.

“Iran is in better condition than other world countries in terms of battling and containing the coronavirus,” Rouhani said.

Although world states are in difficult conditions in coping with coronavirus, Iran has about 20,000 empty beds at hospitals, he added.

Elaborating on counter-coronavirus measures taken by the Iranian government to reduce the damages of the deadly virus, Rouhani noted that the Armed Forces have prepared some 4,000 beds in case of emergencies.

“Also, new restrictions including social distancing will be placed across the country as of today”, he said, expressing hope that the new plan would cut the coronavirus transmission chain thus giving the government a new chance in taking fresh measures to lower infection cases.

He further assured that the country’s national reserves are sufficient enough to provide for people's basic needs.

“Iran is fighting with both coronavirus and sanctions, while other countries are countering the virus only and have multiple sources,” Rouhani said censuring anti-Iran bans.

He further added that special financial assistance will be provided to those businesses which have suffered losses due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The deadly coronavirus radiating from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 has affected thousands of people across the world, while over 9,000 have been killed.

About 27,017 people in Iran are infected with the coronavirus, while the virus has killed 2,077 Iranians.

Kianoush Jahanpour, head of public relations and information center of the Health Ministry has already declared that over 47 out of 83 million Iranians have been screened, underlining that the screening process continues.