Call for Establishing Special Base to Fight Coronavirus

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a decree on Thursday, ordering the establishment of a “health and treatment base” to help stem the spread of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic in Iran.
In his decree, which was addressed to the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri, Ayatollah Khamenei commended the public services offered by armed forces as part of efforts to contain coronavirus, the Leader’s website reported.
“While commending the services provided by armed forces to the dear people of Iran and emphasizing the need for those services to expand and continue, it is necessary that these services be organized through a health and treatment base,” the Leader said. 
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that in addition to establishing treatment facilities such as field hospitals and infirmaries, they should focus on preventing the further spread of this disease through all means.  
“Since there is some evidence that this incident might be a ‘biological attack’, this measure could also be a form of biological defense drill, which would add to national power and strength,” the Leader said. 
Novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a new respiratory disease first identified in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the outbreak as a pandemic.
Right after the virus emerged in the north-central Iranian city of Qom, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps expressed readiness to help fight the unwelcome phenomenon.
Defense Minister Amir Hatami also assigned his ministry’s subsidiary organizations with the task of mass-producing liquid disinfectants and protective gear, including face masks.
On March 1, it was revealed that a major military-funded Iranian research center has started efforts to develop drugs as well as a vaccine to boost the government’s efforts to battle the virus outbreak, according to Press TV.  
Chancellor of the Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, which is affiliated with IRGC, said three research teams at the academic center were working on treatments for coronavirus, adding that one of the groups had already come up with a drug that could be used to cure the illness. 
On Wednesday, a first model of a domestically manufactured thermal imaging camera, produced by SAIran, an electronics company run by the Defense Ministry, was unveiled in a Tehran ceremony.
The infra-red device was comparable to foreign products when it comes to precision in diagnosing fever, the company said, while the authorities attending the ceremony said the camera would enter the mass-production stage in the near future.