Iran tightens lockdown amid exponential COVID surge

Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran

Lock Tehran down or the coronavirus pandemic would spiral out of control. This is a demand made by Tehran City Council as well as some MPs amid an unabated surge in infections and fatalities.

As the coronavirus has resurged over the past month across Iran, experts have raised the alarm over the soaring figures, especially in the densely populated capital.

Last week, the government doubled down on its COVID restrictions, banning and imposing fines on unnecessary intercity travels. The government has also extended remote work for civil servants and mandated mask-wearing and fining those who go out without a face mask.

Over the past two months, coronavirus fatalities in Iran have more than quadrupled, with the latest figures hovering above 400. Since the outbreak of the virus in the country, plus 660000 have tested positive and more than 37000 have lost their lives.

The health ministry says it has proposed a two-week enforced lockdown in the capital as the last shot in bringing the soaring numbers to a halt.

As the resurging virus continues to claim more lives, experts say it's still too soon to pin hope on a treatment or vaccine. They say prevention is still the only weapon against the virus, on the condition that everyone is armed with that weapon.

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