Iran president, Hassan Rouhani disclosed on Saturday 18 July 2020 in a televised address that not less than 25 million Iranians may have been infected with the Covid-19.
The president released the figures as the country announced a fresh week-long restriction in Tehran and other cities across the country due to hikes in Covid-19 infections.
According to the president, the figure which accounts for about 30% of the country’s 80 million population, was based on the country’s ministry of health recent research report on coronavirus.
Giving the figure, Rouhani said, “Our estimate is that so far 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and about 14,000 have lost their lives.”
Rouhani further said there was a higher tendency that about 30 or 35 million more people would be at risk of getting the infections.
“We have to consider the possibility that 30 to 35 million more may face infection,” he said.
Commenting on the figure given by the president, the government’s coronavirus task force said that the figures were just of patients with mild Covid-19 infections who do not seek needed medical attention.
The president also said that are fears that in addition to about 200,000 people who have been hospitalized more 200,000 would need to be given hospital treatment.
Being one of the hardest hit countries in the Middle East, Iran has seen huge rise in coronavirus infections and death toll keeps rising. The government is putting necessary action in place to stop the spread of the virus.
“We have not yet achieved herd immunity and we have no choice but to be united and break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus,” Rouhani said.
As of Saturday, with more than 188 new cases, Iran has recorded over 269, 000 infections and about 13,979 coronavirus related death.
In a concerted effort to contain spread of the virus, the Khuzestan governorate has also announced on Saturday the province would be on a three-day long lockdown beginning from 22nd of July.
