Health Ministry Spokesperson: All parts of the country are infected with Corona

Kianoush Jahanpour has said that travelers are taking souvenirs of the coronavirus both on their way there and back. He has announced an increase in the number of infected people in the coming days. The government has not yet made a decision on extending the Nowruz holidays.

The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health says that after 35 days of identifying the COVID-19 disease in Iran, there is no place in the country that is not infected with the coronavirus.

On Monday, April 25, at a daily press conference regarding the coronavirus outbreak, Kianoush Jahanpour warned citizens against traveling, stating that the level of contamination in different parts of the country is different, adding: "People who travel will either take the virus with them to that area or bring the virus as a souvenir when they return."

Previously, Mohammad Eslami, the Minister of Roads of the Islamic Republic, had said that by the first of Farvardin, Nowruz trips had decreased by (only) 51 percent compared to the same period last year.

However, on Monday, April 25, at a government meeting, Hassan Rouhani spoke about the actions of "many people" in canceling their trips, adding, "They wanted to go, whether by personal or public means, and our reports are that those who went on a trip stayed in their new place of residence, and everyone is implementing and practicing this issue of personal and voluntary quarantine."

Jahanpour also criticized the "irresponsible, incorrect, and selfish behavior of some," stating that "overall, travel will have a negative impact on the spread of the disease." He added, "Given the significant reduction in travel, we are focused on the glass being half full and hope that we will not witness a peak in the disease."

"Passengers are worse off upon arrival"

The statements of Alireza Zali, commander of the coronavirus response headquarters in the metropolitan city of Tehran, however, do not bear much resemblance to the optimism hidden in the words of Rouhani and Jahanpour. Last Sunday, in a meeting on the necessary measures for the return of Tehran travelers, he said that “the number of infected and deceased patients exceeds previous speculations and a rewrite of the scenario is necessary.”

Referring to the decline in hospital discharges, Zali described travelers as “worse off” upon arrival (return) to Tehran, which is delaying their treatment. He added: “Without a doubt, the wave of travelers returning to Tehran will worsen this situation.”

Bahram Sarmast, the governor of Qom, has also expressed concern about the possible worsening of the situation if Nowruz travelers return. He said: "At the provincial level, the issue has been controlled to some extent with the measures and precautions taken, but this control does not mean that concerns are eliminated, because we are very worried that we will witness a second wave of the spread of this disease, especially after Nowruz trips."

In a video interview on Monday, the Health Ministry spokesman stressed that the third level of quarantine, which includes “implementing restrictions, partly through public persuasion and partly through government announcements,” is currently in effect. He accused critics of this approach of leaning toward “martial law,” saying that stricter regulations “are not compatible with our economic, social, and cultural structure and may have even more dire consequences. Therefore, we must focus on feasible paths that also have a desirable end.”

Critics consider the current “crooked and sick” methods ineffective in containing the coronavirus, given the ongoing upward trend in Iran. Recently, five former Iranian health ministers and a number of medical experts warned Rouhani in a letter that containing the coronavirus requires a stricter quarantine. In their letter, they stated that “after about a month since the first cases of the new coronavirus were identified in Iran, the trend of COVID-19 infections and deaths from it is still rising and has not decreased in any region,” and stated that the surest way to control and reduce the disease is to “break the chain of contact between healthy people and sick and carrier people,” which “requires limiting traffic and travel, closing non-essential businesses and large, crowded shopping malls, and controlling entry and exit points to cities.”

The number of infected people is likely to increase in the coming days.

Jahanpour opposes these demands, even though he himself announced in an interview on Monday that he had not registered all coronavirus patients because it was not possible. He said, “6,000 coronavirus tests are being conducted in the country every day, which will reach 10,000 in the coming days, so an increase in the number of patients in the coming days is not far-fetched.” This is despite the fact that, according to Jahanpour himself, in early March, 27,000 hospital beds in 165 hospitals were allocated for Covid-19 patients, and “the number of these beds gradually increased with the cooperation of the armed forces and social security, and will soon reach more than 41,000 beds.” He clarified that the approximately 2,500 ICU beds that were allocated for these patients have all been occupied.

Last Saturday, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Iran’s former health minister, wrote on his Instagram that he had warned Hassan Rouhani about the spread of the coronavirus in Iran in late December. Ghazizadeh’s statement contradicts the Iranian president’s claim that the government was informed of the coronavirus on February 20.

An official from the presidential office did not categorically deny Ghazizadeh’s statements when contacted by IRNA on Sunday, saying only that the statements “cannot be confirmed.” However, in an interview on Monday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health reiterated that the authorities were unaware of the presence of coronavirus in the country until February 20, saying: “Since February 1, all entry points and hospitals in the country have been searching for COVID-19, and wherever tests were taken from suspected cases, none were positive.” He mocked Ghazizadeh and others like him, saying, “There may be people who have seen the coronavirus crossing the border through barbed wire. Such statements are mostly made to soften the atmosphere and expand the mind, which is being discussed in cyberspace.”

Although Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly emphasized and promised in his recent statements that the recommendations and mild and limited regulations related to the “third level of quarantine” will only last until April 13, apparently there is also talk of extending the Nowruz holidays beyond April 13. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said in this regard: “The National Headquarters for Combating Corona has not yet made a decision on extending the Nowruz holidays… (But) proposals in this regard have been received by the National Headquarters for Combating Corona from various regions, which are being reviewed.”

Source: DW