Thousands of Carriers of Mutated COVID-19 Are Traveling During Nowruz Holiday in Iran

While quarantine violations are considered a serious crime in Iran, thousands of individuals infected with COVID-19 have left their homes for travel. 17 Iranian cities are in red status and 47 cities are in orange status.

Iran’s Deputy Health Minister stated in an interview with IRNA that some citizens not only fail to observe health protocols, but despite testing positive for coronavirus and being aware of their illness, they have left quarantine and traveled up to 1,000 kilometers from their place of residence.

AliReza Raeesi said, “This means violating the rights of others” and is considered a serious crime.

According to this official, most travels have been to cities that are in blue and yellow status. As a result, the situation in these cities could soon change and they could be added to the orange or red list.

Travel Up to 1,000 Kilometers

Raeesi clarified on this matter: “Among individuals infected with coronavirus, on just the third day of Farvardin 1400, seven people traveled more than 1,000 kilometers, 32 people more than 500 kilometers, 605 people more than 100 kilometers, 579 people more than 50 kilometers, 1,344 people more than 20 kilometers, and 3,677 people traveled up to 20 kilometers, violating quarantine.”

Observers believe that officials have only become aware of a portion of this problem and the number of patients who are traveling is far greater.

The Ministry of Health continuously and insistently recommends citizens to refrain from Nowruz travels due to the spread of the mutated “English coronavirus” variant, which currently exists in 31 provinces.

The Deputy Health Minister warned that if citizens continue to ignore this catastrophic virus, there is a risk of a severe surge in COVID-19 in late Farvardin 1400.

Raeesi stated that patients who have violated quarantine have been identified and referred to judicial authorities. According to him, fines and penalties considered by the National COVID-19 Headquarters will be imposed on them.

Statistics on Cases and Mortality

According to SimaSadat Lari, the Health Ministry spokesperson, from the third to the fourth of Farvardin, “based on definitive diagnostic criteria” 7,605 individuals infected with COVID-19 were identified in the country and 936 of them were hospitalized.

Based on official statistics, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Iran as of dawn on the fourth of Farvardin (March 24) reached 1,823,317 people.

The number of people who died in relation to this disease in the past 24 hours was reported as 94 people.

As a result, the official death toll in Iran reached 62,045 people.

Based on Lari’s data, 1,562,709 patients have recovered and 3,874 patients are hospitalized in the intensive care units of hospitals.

The Health Ministry spokesperson further stated that currently 17 cities are red and 47 cities are orange, and travel to or from these cities is prohibited.

For more information on this matter, you can visit the official website of the Health Ministry.

Source: DW