Sharp Rise in Daily Covid Infections, Mortalities

The Health Ministry on Wednesday logged a dramatic increase in daily coronavirus cases and fatalities as the highly transmissible Omicron sub-variant BA.5 continued its relentless spread across the country. 
For the first time in nearly five months, overnight infections rose past 7,000, bringing the national tally to 7.29 million, ISNA reported. 
Overnight deaths also saw a substantial rise, with the virus killing 32 patients in one day, the highest daily record since April. 
The new mutations in BA.5 make it elusive to antibodies produced by vaccination and prior infection, bringing about the seventh wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. 
The variant was first detected in South Africa in early 2022 and it soon started circulating around the world, causing spikes in national Covid statistics right when most nations had eased lockdown measures. 
In response to the circulation of BA.5, the Iranian government has relaunched the vaccination campaign and encouraged anyone over the age of 18 to get a second booster shot to curb infections. 
Over the past 24 hours, more than 114,000 jabs were administered. 
Iran has also increased border control to prevent the entry of the virus through air, land and sea.