Virus Infections, Fatalities Increase

Saturday’s tally of newly identified patients and overnight fatalities took Iran’s coronavirus infections close to the 400,000 mark and its death toll to over 23,000, a health official announced.
“Within 24 hours, at least 2,139 were diagnosed with Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, taking the country’s caseload to 399,940,” the Health Ministry’s Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Overnight deaths dropped to 116 on Saturday, pushing the national toll to pass the 23,000 mark, she added. 
Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 13 are on red alert and 15 are in an alarming state.
During Saturday’s national coronavirus taskforce meeting, President Hassan Rouhani thanked ministry officials, teachers and university professors for keeping the doors of educational institutions open in the midst of the deadly outbreak.
“A large population is pursuing education in Iran; there are 14 million pupils across the country. The number of students in undergraduate and graduate universities and theological seminaries total 20 million,” he added.
Responding to critics in favor of the closure of schools and universities, Rouhani said this approach would be detrimental to the mental health of students who are keen “to learn and build their future”.
Last week, schools reopened in Iran after a seven-month hiatus, with the government stressing the need for the physical presence of students in classrooms.
The president said, “I am asking families not to give up in the face of misgivings, stay vigilant and know that both the health and education ministries are making their best efforts.”
Rouhani was referring to guidelines devised by the Health Ministry and implemented by the Education Ministry to ensure the safety of students in the new academic year.

New Academic Year

President Hassan Rouhani will give an online speech on Sunday to mark the start of the new academic year for universities, his website reported. 
Many universities across the country have opted for distance learning over the course of the next semester to keep students in their hometowns. University dormitories were one of the first places that were closed when the Covid-19 pandemic was detected in Iran in February.
The president’s speech will be streamed via the University of Tehran’s website.
According to Lari, over 344,000 have recovered from the respiratory illness and discharged from hospitals. Some 3,760 are hospitalized in intensive care units.
Iran has carried out 3.53 million diagnostic tests in the past seven months to track infections, the health official said.
Around the world, over 28.7 million have tested positive for Covid-19. The contagion has taken the lives of at least 921,000 since it was first identified in Wuhan, China.