Covid-19 Remains a Health Threat 

The coronavirus still poses a threat and protective measures cannot be ended, Ahmad Tabatabaei, a member of the science committee to fight Covid, stated on Wednesday. 
“[Covid] can still circulate in the country, same as other respiratory infections,” Tabatabaei was quoted as saying by ISNA. 
Asked about the rise in cities color-coded as orange and yellow, standing for cities with relatively high transmission rates, the health official said, “It might be because we’re reaching another peak.”
He immediately added that it was too soon to make a definite evaluation. 
None of Iran’s cities have been placed on the red alert as of yet. Some six cities have been coded as orange and 94 as yellow. The majority of cities (384) are categorized as blue or safe areas. 
The official noted, “Compared to developed states, the number of PCR tests we carry out has dropped and some patients might not be identified.”
He nevertheless added the severity of the disease has declined based on observations by medical centers. 
On the possibility of another wave hitting Iran, Tabatabaei stated that the Health Ministry’s daily statistics had not seen a rise yet. 
“In the past five to six months, the stats have been relatively stable and there has not been a significant increase,” he said.
He pointed out that the uptick in cities coded as yellow and orange could signal the start of another coronavirus wave and encouraged the public to follow safety measures. 
Tabatabaei’s interview was conducted by ISNA one day before Wednesday’s Covid tally saw a dramatic rise. 
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 13 mortalities related to the coronavirus, after having registered zero deaths a day prior. 
Since the end of September, Iran had only logged two days with more than nine deaths, one in early October (10 fatalities) and the second less than two weeks ago (11 fatalities). 
The tally of daily infections also saw a spike on Wednesday. Nearly 1,000 people tested positive for the dangerous virus in the past 24 hours, a more than tenfold surge compared to a day earlier, which suggests more PCR tests were processed in the past 24 hours than the days before. 
Daily Covid cases in Iran had not increased to 1,000 since early September. With the New Year Holidays fast approaching, the tally is only expected to rise.