Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at a meeting of the national working group to fight the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
Tehran:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that 35 million Iranians could contract the coronavirus, the country still has no collective immunity, although a quarter of the population has already been infected.
It seems to be the first time that a senior Iranian official has indicated that the country is seeking to defeat COVID-19 through collective immunity.
The virus has killed more than 588,000 people and infected nearly 14 million people worldwide since it was first detected in China late last year.
Iran is grappling with a resurgence of COVID-19, with figures showing an increase in new infections and deaths from a two-month low in May.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Health reported 188 deaths from coronavirus and 2166 cases of infection in the past 24 hours.
This has brought the overall death toll to 13,979 out of 271,606 cases since Iran reported its first cases in mid-February.
The rising toll prompted authorities to reimpose restrictions in the hardest hit provinces after they were lifted across the country in April, with Tehran extending them for an additional week on Friday.
“Our estimate is that so far 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus,” said Rouhani during a televised meeting of the country’s anti-virus working group.
“We have to consider the possibility that 30 to 35 million more people will be infected,” he added, citing the results of a study by the Ministry of Health.
“We have not yet achieved collective immunity and we have no choice but to be united and break the chain of coronavirus transmission.”
Rouhani’s deputy chief of communications, Alireza Moezi, said on Twitter a few hours later that the 25 million actually refer to “those who have encountered the virus and obtained total immunity”.
Rouhani also said Iran may have to prepare for double the number of hospitalizations it has suffered in the past five months, according to the study.
The study shows that “out of 1000 infected, 500 show no symptoms,” added Mr. Rouhani, warning that they present the main challenge in “spreading more viruses and over a longer period” than those identified.
The Ministry of Health does not report the total number of hospitalizations compared to COVID-19.
The Islamic Republic has struggled to contain the worst COVID-19 epidemic in the Middle East since it announced its first cases in mid-February.
Iran has refrained from imposing complete closures but has closed schools, canceled public rallies and banned travel between provinces in March, before lifting restrictions next month to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
