Virus Infections Lowest in 10 Days

The tally of daily Covid-19 patients declined on Tuesday, dropping to its lowest in 10 days as the Iranian government eased restrictions and launched the fourth phase of its plan to contain the pandemic.
Iran recorded 1,787 new patients in the past 24 hours, taking its national caseload to 139,511, ISNA quoted the spokesman for the Health Ministry, Kianoush Jahanpour, as saying.
Today’s decline coincided with the launch of the fourth phase of the government’s plan to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The fourth phase allows almost all places of business to reopen while it intensifies testing for an early detection of infections and steps up health inspections to assure public compliance with protocols issued by the Health Ministry, which are aimed at curbing the transmission of the virus.
Authorities began health inspections when the national coronavirus taskforce initiated the third phase of its plan to tackle the outbreak. Dubbed Smart Distancing Initiative, the scheme allowed the revival of economic activities provided businesses make a commitment to abide by protocols devised by the Health Ministry.
“So far, 225,000 places of business have not complied with the health protocols and therefore, have been shut down. More than 1.69 million have followed the measures,” Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said on Tuesday.
During Harirchi’s press conference, the health official pointed out that some are associating catching the deadly virus with public shame and try to hide their symptoms.
Harirchi said, “Some hide their illness. Contracting the coronavirus is neither a social disgrace nor a taboo.”
According to the health official, 80-85% of patients fully recover from the infectious disease.
The death toll from the pandemic reached 7,508, up by 57 a day earlier.
The number of recovered Covid-19 patients rose to 109,400. Iran is among the top five countries with the highest recovery rates among countries.
More than 100 laboratories across the country have carried out 837,000 coronavirus tests in the past three months. 
Jahanpour reiterated his usual advice, asking the public to heed personal hygiene and social distancing measures, and to wear facemasks in crowded places.
Worldwide deaths from the pandemic neared 350,000 on Tuesday and infections surged to 5.6 million.