An official with the Health Ministry called for remote working and asked authorities to penalize anyone who takes non-essential trips in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, as a third wave is taking its toll on the country’s healthcare system.
Nasrollah Fat’hian, a member of the National Coronavirus Taskforce, pointed to the rising number of cases and hospitalizations during an online press conference on Wednesday and said, “Travels have thwarted containment efforts; we need to take practical steps to reduce travels,” IRNA reported.
Fat’hian noted that remote working rules need to be reimposed, wherever it is possible.
The policy was strictly implemented during the first wave, but it was later discarded in favor of health protocols.
Masoud Mardani, another member of the taskforce, also said non-essential travel and public gatherings have greatly contributed to the spread of the infectious disease.
Mardani, who is also a specialist in viral diseases, noted that Covid-19 cases have risen sharply and the third wave will certainly hit before the influenza epidemic breaks out.
He added that if the public continue to ignore mitigation guidelines, the death toll will climb due to the concurrence of the influenza and coronavirus pandemic.
The daily count of coronavirus infections dropped to 3,605 on Wednesday, 44% of whom required hospitalization, the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, was quoted as saying by ISNA.
The freshly identified cases took the national tally to 432,800, she added.
According to Lari, 184 overnight deaths pushed the total toll to 24,840. Some 3,950 are in critical condition.
Iran has carried out 3.8 million diagnostic tests since the deadly virus was first spotted in the holy city of Qom. Over 365,000 have recovered from the respiratory illness.
Global cases climbed to 31.8 million on Wednesday and the death toll rose to 977,000.
