Corona Command Headquarters: Quarantine Is No Longer Effective

People are being called upon to stay in their homes and avoid gatherings, but the military wants to conduct a biological defense drill. Rouhani said no province has the authority to make decisions about quarantine and business closures, but Khuzestan was quarantined.

The head of the Corona Control Headquarters in Tehran says that quarantine is no longer effective. He has asked artists to use their influence to frighten people about coronavirus. Alireza Zali has warned that some officials and citizens have not taken the current epidemic seriously, and government intervention has been delayed and accompanied by reluctance.

Zali has acknowledged that the crowded presence of people in streets and the failure to change their daily rhythm is due to the incorrect communication of policies to citizens.

Mahmoud Sadeghi, Tehran’s representative in parliament, told ISNA that people are gradually taking coronavirus seriously, but for them to reduce their presence in the streets, government offices should also be closed like schools and universities. Sadeghi, referring to China’s model, said that perhaps quarantine could prevent people from being in public.

However, the commander of the Corona Control Headquarters says that full city quarantine is no longer viable: “Because many cities and provinces are already affected, and if it is implemented it will have no effect.” In a meeting with a group of artists, he asked them to create awareness among the public and frighten them about coronavirus: “Today is a day when we ask you to come help us to save even one person’s life… In fact, we are seeking your initiative and art to create awareness among the people and frighten them so that we can keep people in their homes.”

Mohsen Hashemi, head of Tehran’s city council, previously criticized indecision in quarantining the capital.

Hassan Rouhani, on Sunday, the 25th of Esfand, firmly rejected the discussion of city quarantine, saying: “We do not have something called quarantine, neither today nor during the holidays…” He emphasized that no governor or province has the authority to make decisions in this regard.

Parallel to these statements, the governor of Khuzestan announced a ban on all passenger vehicles entering and leaving the region, and declared all businesses closed except supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries, butcher shops, and fruit vendors. He emphasized that all hypermarkets, gathering centers, and passenger terminals will remain closed.

The commander of the Iranian military, meanwhile, ordered a “biological defense drill” to be conducted, while officials from the Ministry of Health have rejected any connection between the spread of coronavirus in Iran and a biological attack.

Iran’s Ministry of Health says that by noon on Sunday, the 25th of Esfand, 724 people have died from coronavirus infection, with 114 of them dying in the past 24 hours. However, independent media and eyewitnesses, based on field evidence and contradictions in the Ministry of Health and medical universities’ data, consider this figure to be about one-third of the actual death toll.

Rouhani continues to repeat that city quarantine, particularly Tehran, is not being implemented, while the head of the capital’s crisis prevention and management organization reports the imminent transfer of coronavirus patients to special shelters. Reza Mohammadi Karmi said that a three-month crisis is ahead, and the municipality, military, and military organizations will participate in providing special shelters. These shelters or recovery centers are to be set up to break the chain of coronavirus transmission and serve as a type of quarantine or isolation stations.

The coronavirus pandemic in Iran, with the death crisis of citizens, economic shock, and the mobilization of institutions to contain the chaos caused by shortages of health supplies, hospital beds, and diagnostic kits, comes while the leader of the Islamic Republic initially downplayed the issue. Three days after the official announcement of the first coronavirus case in Qom, he attributed the matter to influencing parliamentary elections.

Source: DW