All business owners should have received three doses of Covid-19 vaccine to obtain a QR code, according to a new protocol announced by Iran Chamber of Guilds.
Following the decision of the National Coronavirus Headquarters, all businesses have been asked to upload information about their enterprise on a dedicated website (Asnaf.moi.ir), IRNA reported.
In the first step, a written warning will be sent to the guilds violating the new protocol. In the second stage, the POS of the violating business will be blocked for two weeks. In a final step, the business will be shut down for 30 days.
The new protocol followed the Iran Chamber of Guilds’ warning about poor compliance with Covid-19 health protocols in the runup to the new Iranian year (starting March 21).
According to a statement, bakeries, reception halls, restaurants and shopping centers have been least compliant, ISNA reported.
Iran is experiencing a sixth wave of coronavirus, as the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across the country with the number of hospitalized patients on the rise.
The Chamber of Guilds has warned businesses that the government may have to impose heavy restrictions on businesses, if the current situation were to persist, saying the violating guilds will be shut down.
Businesses suffered heavy losses during previous rounds of lockdowns. The days leading to the new Iranian new year are often considered the peak of many businesses’ sales in Iran.
The National Coronavirus Headquarters has also decided that flights be operated at 60% of their seating capacity for two weeks
The raging Omicron variant of the coronavirus placed the capital Tehran on red alert, as Covid hospitalizations increased and elementary schools across the province were temporarily ordered to close to curb transmission rates.
Tehran Governor-General Mohsen Mansouri has ordered Tehran’s elementary schools to switch back to distance learning until further decisions are made.
Tehran’s elementary schools had resumed in-person learning for less than a semester. Universities and high schools remain open but they could also be subject to closures if infection rates continue to spike.
Masoud Mardani, a member of the National Coronavirus Headquarters, called for the closure of schools until the end of the current Iranian year (March 20).
He noted that considering the rise in red-coded cities, Covid restrictions should be imposed, including school closures and a ban on cultural, scientific and social gatherings.
“We could return to bitter Covid days and more lockdown measures could be reinstated,” he added.
Dozens of cities across Iran have been placed on red alert.
Iran eased lockdown measures in autumn when the fifth wave of the pandemic, fueled by the Delta variant, subsided.
Selling public transportation tickets to intercity passengers without vaccination cards or negative PCR tests is banned, according to the director general of Passenger Transport Department of the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization.
“As per the new regulation, all people willing to use intercity buses or taxis must have vaccination cards indicating that they have received at least two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine or a negative PCR test, taken within 72 hours prior to their departure,” Daryoush Baqerjavan was quoted as saying by ILNA.
The official noted that information on passengers’ vaccination status will be checked on the Health Ministry’s database to make sure no one who poses a potential risk uses public transportation.
The National Coronavirus Headquarters has also decided that flights be operated at 60% of their seating capacity for two weeks, Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.
