Iran said Sunday it will allow “low-risk” economic activities to resume from April 11 as its daily Coronavirus infection rates slowed for a fifth straight day. President Hassan Rouhani did not specify what qualified as “low risk” activities.
“Restarting these activities does not mean we have abandoned the principle of staying at home,” President Rouhani said at a meeting of Iran’s anti-Coronavirus task force.
The novel Coronavirus pandemic claimed another 151 lives over the past 24 hours in Iran, raising the Islamic republic’s declared death toll to 3,603, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said Sunday at his daily press briefing.
He also reported 2,483 new cases of COVID-19 infection, the fifth straight day of declining numbers, compared to a record number of 3,111 infections on March 31.
Iran, the Middle East country worst affected by the pandemic, which originated in China, has reported 58,226 infections, a figure which some foreign experts suspect is an underestimate.
After resisting a lockdown or quarantine measures, Iran imposed an intercity travel ban late last month.
Saturday should have marked a return to regular activity in Iran after a two-week holiday for the Persian New Year.
Jahanpour at his briefing criticized “those who think that the situation is normal now that the holidays are over, because it is not normal”.
While some people in Tehran declared they were reassured by the government’s response, others remained fearful.
“There have been a lot of people out on the streets the last two days. It’s terrifying,” a housewife, Zohreh stated.
In Isfahan, Iran’s third largest city and tourism capital, 35-year-old teacher Samira said large numbers of people were ignoring advice to stay home.
“I passed by two parks and saw 25 to 30 people in each,” she said.
“Public gardens are supposed to remain closed.”
