Iran Chamber of Guilds has issued a 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 the 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 has warned businesses that the government may have to impose heavy restrictions on the market if the current situation persists, saying the violating guilds will be shut down.
Businesses suffered heavy losses during previous rounds of lockdowns. The days leading to the new Iranian year are often considered the peak of many businesses’ sales.
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 closed to curb transmission rates.
Tehran Governor-General Mohsen Mansouri said on Wednesday that the Omicron variant had exploded throughout the country and in the capital.
The official ordered Tehran’s elementary schools to switch back to distance learning until further notice.
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 Iranian year (March 20).
He noted that considering the rise in red 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.
At least 42 cities across Iran have been placed on red alert and 142 have been color-coded orange, or high-risk.
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 a 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 also 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 is a potential hazard uses public transportation.
