Health Ministry Spokesperson: All Points in the Country Are Contaminated with COVID-19

Kianoush Jahanpour stated that travelers bring coronavirus as souvenirs whether going or returning. He reported an increase in the detection of infected patients in the coming days. Regarding the extension of Nowruz holidays, the government has not yet made a decision.

Iran’s health ministry spokesperson says that after 35 days since COVID-19 was identified in Iran, there is no uncontaminated area from coronavirus in the country.

Kianoush Jahanpour on Monday, April 4, at the daily press conference regarding the coronavirus outbreak, while stating that the level of contamination varies in different parts of the country, warned about citizens traveling and added: “People who travel will either bring the virus to that region or bring it back as a souvenir upon return.”

Previously, Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s road minister, had said that by the first of Farvardin, Nowruz travels were (only) 51 percent less compared to the same period last year.

Nevertheless, Hassan Rouhani on Monday, April 4, in the government cabinet session spoke of “many people” canceling their trips and added “Whether they wanted to go by personal or public transportation and our reports indicate that those who traveled stayed in their new place of residence and everyone is implementing and practicing this voluntary and personal quarantine.”

Jahanpour also, while emphasizing that “travel will have negative effects on disease spread,” criticized “irresponsible, incorrect and selfish behavior of some” and said “given the significant decrease in travel, we are hopeful and pray we won’t witness a disease peak.”

“Travelers are in worse condition upon arrival”

However, the statements of Alireza Zali, commander of the coronavirus control headquarters in Tehran metropolis, do not bear much resemblance to the optimism hidden in the words of Rouhani and Jahanpour. Last Sunday in a meeting regarding necessary measures for the return of Tehran travelers, he said that “the statistics of infected patients and deaths exceed previous assumptions and requires a rewriting of the scenario.”

Zali, referring to decreased hospital discharges, described travelers upon arrival (return) to Tehran as “in worse condition,” which delays their treatment. He added: “Undoubtedly, the wave of travelers returning to Tehran will worsen this situation.”

Bahram Sarmast, governor of Qom, also expressed concern about the possible worsening of the situation if Nowruz travelers return. He said: “At the provincial level, with measures and preventions taken, the issue has been somewhat controlled, but this control does not mean alleviating concerns, because we are very worried that we might witness a second wave of this disease, especially after Nowruz travels.”

The health ministry spokesperson, in a video interview on Monday, while emphasizing that currently the third level of quarantine, including “imposing restrictions, partly through public persuasion and partly through government notifications,” is being implemented, accused critics of this method of tending toward “military rule” and said that stricter regulations “do not align with our economic, social and cultural framework and may have more unpleasant consequences. Therefore, we must focus on achievable paths that also have desirable outcomes.”

Critics, given the continued upward trend of coronavirus infection in Iran, consider the current “crooked and ramshackle” methods ineffective in containing it. Recently, five former health ministers of Iran and a number of specialist physicians, in a letter to Rouhani, warned that containing coronavirus requires stricter quarantine. In their letter, while stating that “after about a month from identifying the first cases of the new coronavirus in Iran, the process of COVID-19 infection and death remains on an upward trend and in no region has this trend decreased,” they identified the most certain way to control and reduce this disease as “cutting the chain of contact between healthy people and sick and carrier individuals,” which “requires restricting movement and travel and closing unnecessary sectors and crowded shopping centers and controlling entry and exit points of cities.”

Possibility of increased number of infected in coming days

Jahanpour opposes these demands even while reporting on Monday that not all coronavirus patients have been registered because it was not possible. He said “6,000 coronavirus tests are conducted daily in the country, which will reach 10,000 tests in coming days, therefore an increase in the number of patients in coming days is not unexpected.” This is while according to Jahanpour himself, at the beginning of Esfand 27,000 hospital beds in 165 hospitals were allocated for COVID-19 patients, which “gradually increased with the cooperation of armed forces and social security and will soon reach more than 41,000 beds.” He emphasized that approximately 2,500 ICU beds allocated for these patients are all occupied.

Last Saturday, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, former health minister of Iran, wrote on his Instagram that he warned Hassan Rouhani in late Azar about the spread of coronavirus in Iran. This statement by Ghazizadeh contradicts the Iranian president’s recent claim that the government became aware of coronavirus on February 19.

A presidential office official on Sunday did not definitively deny Ghazizadeh’s statements in contact with IRNA and only said that these statements “are not confirmed.” The health ministry spokesperson, however, on Monday again emphasized the lack of knowledge by authorities about the presence of coronavirus in the country until February 19 and said: “From the beginning of Bahman month, all entry points and hospitals were searching for COVID-19 and wherever tests were taken from suspicious cases, none were positive.” He ridiculed Ghazizadeh and people like him and said “It is possible that there are people who have seen coronavirus passing through the barbed wire at the border, such statements are more for lightening the mood and entertainment in cyberspace.”

Although Hassan Rouhani in his recent statements has constantly emphasized and promised that the mild and limited recommendations and regulations related to the “third level quarantine” will last only until April 13, apparently the issue of extending Nowruz holidays after April 13 is also being discussed. The health ministry spokesperson on this matter said: “The national coronavirus task force has not yet passed a resolution regarding the continuation of Nowruz holidays… (but) suggestions have been made to the national coronavirus task force from various quarters that are under review.”

Source: DW