Iran has reinstated its conditions for air travel to the country amid a new wave of Covid-19, according to the spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran.
“Passengers are required to either have a negative PCR test before boarding or proof of receiving at least two doses of vaccines,” Mir-Akbar Razavi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
“In domestic flights, it will be mandatory for airlines to provide passengers with masks and alcohol swabs when they board planes. This new regulation came into effect on July 20,” he added.
Health Minister Bahram Einollahi announced on Saturday that Iran had entered the seventh wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and encouraged the public to administer booster shots as soon as possible.
“We’re at the start of the seventh wave because we’ve witnessed a rise in infections and hospitalizations in the past two weeks,” the minister was quoted as saying by ISNA.
New subvariants of the highly contagious Omicron are circulating across the country, placing over 50 cities on red and orange alerts, a new update by the Health Ministry showed.
The codes red and orange point to extremely high-risk and high-risk zones, respectively.
The escape variants, named BA.4 and BA.5, can evade the antibody response produced by vaccination or prior infection.
More than 64 million Iranians have been administered the first dose of a Covid vaccine, some 58 million have received both shots and over 28.3 million have been given a booster dose.
The government has made everyone over the age of 18 eligible to get a fourth shot to further increase immunity in 84 million Iranians.
Around 20% of the eligible population have refused to get inoculated against the contagion.
“Infection rates will keep rising for at least another month,” the head of Covid operations in Tehran Province, Alireza Zali, said on Saturday.
“Covid screening has declined not only in Tehran, but also in other cities,” he added, noting that the drop in testing could falsely reduce the number of active cases.
According to the health expert, anyone who visits medical centers complaining of body pain and sore throat is considered to have contracted the virus.
“Some people might get infected despite vaccination, but inoculation is highly effective in reducing death rates,” Zali said.
Hospitals throughout the country have been placed on alert and vaccination centers have been reactivated to speed the immunization campaign.
Zali noted that the return of pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, along with other religious ceremonies, can result in another surge over the coming month.
Over 566.6 million people have contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic around the world and 6.38 million have lost their lives to it.
