Coronavirus Crisis: Two Arrests in Iran, Eight Hospitals on Alert in Tehran

Following the spread of news about the entry of coronavirus into the cities of Sanandaj and Bandar Abbas, which circulated on social networks over the past two days, law enforcement authorities in these cities denied the reports while announcing the arrest of those responsible for spreading them.

Simultaneously, the Ministry of Health announced that eight hospitals in Tehran have been placed on alert status.

According to ISNA news agency, the social deputy of the Cyber Police on Thursday, February 6, announced the arrest of an individual who had claimed in a virtual space video that one person had been hospitalized due to coronavirus in Kurdistan.

Ramin Pashayee, social deputy of the Cyber Police, described the arrested person’s charge as “disturbing public opinion” and added that health officials and the University of Medical Sciences of Kurdistan have denied the entry of coronavirus into the region.

According to this law enforcement official, the arrested person claimed his motivation for publishing the video was “entertainment and joking.”

Simultaneously, in Hormozgan Province, the head of the Cyber Police of the province announced the identification of “the person who spread false news about the entry of coronavirus to Bandar Abbas” and said: “No cases of this virus have been observed in Hormozgan Province.”

According to Ali Asghar Eftekhari, head of the Cyber Police of Hormozgan, this person also “realized his mistake and expressed remorse and regret.”

In another report, the head of the Communicable Disease Management Center of the Ministry of Health announced conducting tests for two patients suspected of coronavirus infection in Zanjan Province and said: “The first test has been declared definitively negative, but the final result of the other person’s test will be announced within the next 24 hours.”

According to Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, head of the Communicable Disease Management Center of the Ministry of Health, this patient is “a Chinese woman who is hospitalized in one of the hospitals in the city of Zanjan.”

Yesterday, students and other Iranians residing in the city of Wuhan, China, which is the source of the coronavirus outbreak, entered Iran and according to Ministry of Health officials, “were transferred to a designated location for a two-week quarantine.”

Aliresa Raisi, Deputy Minister of Health, announced yesterday that in addition to Iranian students on the Wuhan flight to Tehran, “65 Iraqi nationals, 24 Syrians, and one Lebanese” were also present and “were transferred to their respective countries on the same flight.”

Mr. Raisi also announced the equipping of eight hospitals in Tehran with “special wards for hospitalization of patients suspected of coronavirus” and added that one hospital in each province has also been considered for this purpose.

According to the Deputy Minister of Health, “all hospitals are on alert status and fortunately no confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Iran so far.”

Based on official statistics announced by the Chinese government, the number of people infected with coronavirus (2019 novel coronavirus) has exceeded 28,200.

The number of coronavirus victims in China has exceeded 565 to date, and two people outside mainland China have also lost their lives.

Source: Radio Farda