Lowest Daily Coronavirus Deaths in Over 8 Months

The Health Ministry on Saturday reported 58 deaths caused by Covid-19, the lowest overnight toll since mid-March as most provinces logged zero or only one fatality. 
Data gathered by the Health Ministry showed that 19 provinces across the country reported no or one death, ISNA reported.
Despite the promising figures, two of Iran’s cities returned to a red or very high-risk state on Saturday. 
President Ebrahim Raeisi during the meeting of the National Coronavirus Headquarters on Saturday said it is critical to follow safety rules to stabilize current figures. 
“The only way to protect ourselves from the new Covid-19 wave is to follow health protocols, implement preventive measures and continue close monitoring,” the president said.
The emergence of a highly mutated variant of the coronavirus, named Omicron, has sparked fears throughout the world as more patients infected with the variant are identified in various countries.
No cases of the Omicron have been so far reported in Iran but experts are concerned that the contagious variant could start a sixth wave.
Raeisi noted that border control and the isolation of suspected cases was necessary and underscored high vaccination coverage rates. 
“There should be no vaccine shortages,” the top official added, pointing to imports as well as local vaccine production. 
The Health Ministry gave out 275,000 vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of shots administered to 107.1 million.
Over 57.9 million people have received a first dose, 47.9 million have been fully vaccinated and 1.2 million have been given a booster shot. 

Smart Measures

A senior official with the Roads Ministry, Reza Nafisi, said that unvaccinated individuals who travel to red or orange regions will be fined. 
“Unvaccinated people will be penalized as soon as they arrive in red and orange cities and provinces,” Nafisi said.
The government removed the travel ban after the recent drop in infections and deaths but it plans to implement smart measures targeting unvaccinated people. 
“Infected patients will not be even allowed to exit their homes with personal cars and should stay in quarantine,” he added. 
According to him, harsher rules are to be imposed on those who test positive for the coronavirus. 
The government ran a pilot program in three provinces to explore whether it could ask people for proof of vaccination before allowing entry to public places. 
It is yet to announce if the smart measures will be imposed across the country.