Curbing Pandemic Top Priority

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that containment of the Covid-19 outbreak is a national priority as the raging virus continued to take lives across the country.
Pointing to the surge in overnight deaths, Ayatollah Khamenei in a televised speech called for new and stringent measures against the contagion, leader.ir reported.
“The loss of over 500 lives in one day … as well as infection of tens of thousands of people and their treatment problems are indeed very painful,” he said. “Therefore we have obligations to face this situation.”
The highly contagious Delta variant, first found in India, has quickly become the dominant strain in Iran, overwhelming hospitals and overworking healthcare personnel.
The Leader stressed the need for vaccine procurement, “Coronavirus vaccine should be acquired with extra effort and through all possible means, whether it’s imports or domestic production.”
Iran has at least five vaccines in the pipeline and two of its local vaccines, COV-Iran Barekat and PastuCovac, are being administered to the public.
So far, 3.4 million Iranians have been fully vaccinated and some 13.9 million have received a first dose.
According to Health Minister Saeed Namaki, 600,000 people are getting vaccinated on a daily basis and the figure would soon rise to one million per day.
Ayatollah Khamenei in his remarks addressed the shortage of medicine and asked authorities to facilitate distribution to alleviate the concerns of distressed patients. 
On whether to impose lockdown in the country, the top official said that authorities at the National Coronavirus Headquarters should immediately implement whatever scheme they deem necessary.
He also advised people to observe health protocols, especially during the upcoming religious holidays commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH). 
Experts have expressed concern that crowds mourning in enclosed spaces could lead to a drawn-out fifth wave of the disease.
 Following the Leader’s speech, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli banned mourning inside enclosed buildings. 
President Ebrahim Raeisi gave several orders to the NCH to be immediately executed, including granting sought-after medication to medical centers, revision of safety measures, vaccine imports as well as allocation of financial resources to vaccine imports. 

Call for Lockdown

Alireza Raeisi, spokesman for the NCH, said on Wednesday that the only way to break the chain of transmission is to reinstate stringent measures. 
“I don’t mean a full lockdown, I mean strict limitations for travel, movement, gatherings and following protocols like wearing facemasks,” the health official explained. 
He noted that financial aid for those most vulnerable to closures was necessary for the full implementation of quarantine measures. 
Head of Covid-19 operations in Tehran, Alireza Zali, also called for a two-week lockdown and faster inoculation to curb the peak of the fifth wave. 
“This is the only way to get out of the current coronavirus situation. There is no other way,” he added.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported a new record of 42,500 cases and 536 fatalities, pushing the national toll past 95,000.