Iran's Health Ministry limits coronavirus testing

Ebrahim Shakiba, vice president of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, says that coronavirus testing in Iran is limited to people over 60 years of age and is high-risk.

According to the Iranian Broadcasting Agency, this restriction was established in accordance with a directive from the Ministry of Health, and the reason for it was stated to be limited access to testing equipment, "the difficulty of sampling," and "the risk of disease transmission during sampling."

According to this report, from now on, the priority for coronavirus screening will be limited to people over 60 years old who have underlying illnesses, pregnant women, prisoners who show symptoms of infection, some addicts and those who are in contact with these two groups, and foreign nationals who show symptoms of coronavirus.

The restrictions on coronavirus testing have been announced despite Iranian government officials previously saying that there is no shortage of testing and related equipment.

According to Ministry of Health officials, as of Monday, July 29, a total of 1,610,869 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Iran.

Source: Radio Farda