Curfew Hours Extended on Yalda Night

President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday announced nightly curfew hours for Saturday and Sunday ahead of Yalda celebrations, as his administration ramped up efforts to prevent a fourth coronavirus resurgence. 
As the third wave of infections subsided and daily deaths returned to its lowest count since late September, the National Coronavirus Headquarters remains determined to protect the downtrend by shutting down businesses at 6 p.m. on two nights this week across the country, President.ir reported.
“To prevent gatherings and movements on Yalda, businesses are to close at 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and car movements will be banned from 8 p.m.” Rouhani said.
Yalda festivities celebrate the longest night of the year on Sunday, the last day of autumn. Cities on red and orange alert were already under curfew from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Overnight fatalities fell to its lowest in nearly three months with the Health Ministry registering 178 deaths on Friday.
“The number of deaths caused by Covid-19 rose to 53,273,” the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, said.
Some 7,100 tested positive for the contagion, bringing the tally of cases to over 1.145 million, she added.