Need for Caution as Covid-19 Re-Emerges 

A member of the national science committee on Covid urged the public to exercise caution due to the recent surge in Covid cases inside Iran and the emergence of highly transmissible Omicron variants in the world. 
“There may not be a need for strict restrictions, but individuals themselves should be careful,” Ahmad Tabatabaei was quoted as saying by ISNA. 
According to him, the new Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 has not been detected in Iran as of yet. XBB.1.5 has been called by the World Health Organization as the “most transmissible subvariant detected yet” and it is currently circulating in at least 38 countries. 
On the status of the outbreak in Iran, Tabatabaei said, “The number of infected patients has increased compared to March.”
He added that the resurgence of the disease was also evident in the number of cities color-coded as “red” and “orange”, standing for highly dangerous and dangerous areas in terms of transmission rates. 
While the Health Ministry had reported zero “red” cities in the last few months, it has been slowly raising the figure in its recent weekly updates. Based on the ministry’s latest update, 18 cities are now coded as “red”. 
On Saturday, the daily death toll rose to 37, up by five from one day prior. The ministry also registered 884 new Covid patients, more than half of whom were hospitalized due to severity of symptoms. 
“Current figures are significant when compared to last autumn when not even one fatality would be reported,” Tabatabaei said. 
He added, “It is crucial to come to the belief that we need to live with the coronavirus. People should take this point into consideration.”
Although early estimates had suggested that the current upward trend would end by April 20, Tabatabaei noted that infection rates will continue to rise for the time being.