National Corona Headquarters: Quarantine Side Effects Will Be Worse Than Virus Spread
Kianush Jahanpour, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, says that home quarantine is currently being implemented and some people’s views on mandatory nationwide quarantine would be a form of martial law with social, economic and security consequences.
The spokesperson of the National Corona Combat Headquarters and head of public relations at the Ministry of Health, in a video conference, emphasized that level four quarantine is not implementable in Iran. He said that after individual quarantine, closure of schools and universities, and then shopping centers and malls, home quarantine was recommended and is being carried out with public participation.
IRNA news agency, citing Kianush Jahanpour, wrote: “What some people have in mind regarding quarantine, which sometimes creates doubts, is generally the implementation of a form of martial law and severe coercive measures which in our view is neither possible nor desirable and there is no possibility of implementing it in the country and it will not have the intended effectiveness and desirability. Even in countries that have implemented this level of quarantine, it has not necessarily resulted in desired outcomes and solutions, but rather has had economic, social and even security consequences whose effects and damages have been greater than the spread of the disease itself.”
Eiraj Harirchi, Deputy Minister of Health, in one of his earlier positions, called quarantine a medieval matter. Hassan Rouhani also rejected complete city quarantine a week earlier and said: “Such a thing doesn’t exist at all. There is no quarantine today, not during Nowruz holidays… neither before nor after, and everyone is free to work and conduct their activities.”
Rouhani on the second day of Farvardin, while emphasizing the necessity of continued work and production and explaining his opposition to city quarantines, said: “I said from the first day that the counter-revolution plot is for work and economic activity to stop in Iran, and the Ministry of Intelligence provided proof of it… therefore, we should not let them achieve their goal. Everyone must work and be active.”
In the latest effort, former managers of Iran’s health insurance organization have asked Rouhani to implement intra-city and inter-city quarantine at least until the 20th of Farvardin so that by limiting people’s movement, the spread of the disease can be managed.
Refusal to Confirm Declining Slope of Coronavirus
The Ministry of Health spokesperson rejected scattered reports about the declining slope of the coronavirus epidemic and said: “It’s too early to reach the declining phase of coronavirus. Of course, due to Nowruz holidays, it’s possible that some laboratories are closed for a day and sampling is done less… of course, based on reports, in some hospitals the rate of new patient admissions has slowed, but this does not mean entering the declining slope of this disease.”
The Ministry of Health spokesperson expressed hope that by staying home and avoiding visits or presence in parks, people will maintain the slowed rate of patient admissions to hospitals.
Jahanpour added that the Ministry of Health does not welcome a 40 to 70 percent spread of coronavirus to overcome this epidemic and has no such expectation: “The general rule is that all efforts are aimed at fewer people being infected and infections occurring over a longer time period so that the health-care system can respond to patients.”
The Ministry of Health says that by noon on Sunday, the 3rd of Farvardin, 1685 people have died from coronavirus in Iran. Jahanpour announced that in the past 24 hours, 1028 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the country and the total number of infected people is 21,638.
Tehran with 249 cases in the past 24 hours continues to lead in recording new virus infections. According to statistics announced by Kianush Jahanpour, Isfahan with 87 cases and East Azerbaijan with 57 cases rank second and third respectively.
Source: DW
