Corona "alert status" in Sistan and Baluchestan; Zahedan representative: People are forced to go out

Local authorities in Sistan and Baluchestan province are reporting an increasing trend in the spread of the coronavirus in the province, and the Iranian Ministry of Health has also placed the province in a "state of alert." At the same time, Zahedan's representative in parliament says that more than 74 percent of the population is below the food security line and is forced to go outside the home to work.

Alim Yarmohammadi, a representative of Zahedan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, told IRNA that a large number of residents of this province are workers who are not covered by any government livelihood plan and are forced to "work so they can provide food for their families."

Alim Yarmohammadi told IrnaPlus on Sunday, May 18: Quarantine and health protocols worked for a while, but when they "see that their families are falling apart due to lack of food, they are forced to work."

The MP also said: "No matter how many health protocols we provide them, when they have to prepare their drinking water by the gallon and in an unsanitary way, the situation will not change. We must fundamentally think about their livelihood."

The remarks by the MP, who had previously referred to food poverty in Sistan and Baluchestan province, were published after health officials warned about the "critical" nature of the coronavirus situation in the province and the need to comply with quarantine regulations.

Mohammad Hashemi Shahri, president of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, said on Saturday that positive cases have seen an "unprecedented increase" in the last few days, and on some days, 20 to 40 people are added to the number of infected people daily.

Until last week, the National Headquarters for Combating Corona declared the status of most cities in Sistan and Baluchestan province as "white," and schools in this province were among those that reopened for a month starting Saturday.

Girls dropping out of school and going to seminaries

At the same time as the Zahedan representative in parliament warned about extreme poverty in Sistan and Baluchestan province, an education official also reported that children and adolescents, especially girls, are dropping out of school and going to seminaries.

Hamidreza Rakhshani, Director General of Education of Sistan and Baluchestan, told ILNA news agency that among the cities in this province, the situation in Zahedan, which "has the highest rate of immigration and marginalization with a very large population in the country," is worse than the rest of the cities in the province and has the highest rate of dropouts or school dropouts.

He also said that the dropout rate for female students in this province is higher than that for boys, and that in some areas of the province, especially in the second grade of primary school, parents of girls do not allow them to attend such classes "due to the mixed nature of the students," and that most students go to seminaries when they reach the first grade of secondary school.

Source: Radio Farda