Lax Compliance Will Bring Back Covid-19 Quarantine

President Hassan Rouhani warned on Saturday that the government might have to reimpose restrictions, if public adherence to coronavirus-related protocols continues to drop.
In a coronavirus taskforce meeting, Rouhani said his administration could be forced to restore strict quarantine if protocols, devised by the Health Ministry to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, are further disregarded, President.ir reported.
Rouhani was referring to a survey report that showed a 60% drop in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines in less than a month.
“Adherence to coronavirus rules was desirable until late May … at times over 80%. In the past 10 days it has declined to 18-20%,” he said.
The president stressed the need for collective action amid pandemic, noting that 12.6% of patients in critical condition or dead were neither old nor had any underlying health conditions.
The confirmed coronavirus death toll in Iran stands at 8,730. Over 2,700 are currently severely ill.
Rouhani announced a decision by the taskforce to offer financial help to those laid off in the past three months due to the economic fallout of the outbreak. It will also aid uninsured businesses battered by the virus.
The president outlined an initiative that will come into effect starting next Saturday, delegating authority to provincial governments to impose lockdown restrictions if their cities are placed on red alert.
The Rouhani administration has split the country into “white”, “yellow”, and “red” zones to represent regions with low, moderate and high numbers of infection, respectively.

Infections Near 185,000 

The national tally of Covid-19 cases in Iran rose to 184,955 on Saturday, the 10th highest in the world.
Daily infections continued to rise for the third straight day, according to Health Ministry Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari who reported 2,410 new cases in the past 24 hours. Over 700 required hospital care.
The daily count of fatalities stood at 71 on Saturday. Iran has so far carried out 1.24 million diagnostic tests.
Two provinces were named by Lari as “red” regions for the first time since the categories were introduced, Khorasan Razavi in the east, a popular destination for religious tourists, and the southern province of Bushehr.
Head of Tehran’s Coronavirus Taskforce Alireza Zali discussed the province’s standing with the outbreak, saying the main concern is about the decline in social distancing adherence.
With businesses reopening, means of public transport, which account for 25% of virus transmissions, are packed with people on their way to work. Personal cars are penalized for entering central parts of the capital Tehran where most workplaces are located.
Zali said hospitalizations in the province of Tehran have risen from the previous 3.5% to 5%. 
According to the official, the statistics should be monitored in the coming days to see if they turn into a trend.
Lari advised the elderly and those suffering from preexisting health problems to stay home and their caretakers to socially distance themselves and wear facemasks around them.
Covid-19 cases across the world rose above 7.76 million and fatalities reached 430,000.