Iran rejects lockdown plea as coronavirus cases spiral

dpa Tehran Despite sharply rising numbers of coronavirus infections, an emergency motion introduced by the country’s health minister to put Iran temporar...

dpa Tehran Despite sharply rising numbers of coronavirus infections, an emergency motion introduced by the country’s health minister to put Iran temporarily back into lockdown has been rejected.According to media reports, the committee overseeing Iran’s pandemic response voted unanimously on Tuesday against the request made by Health Minister Said Namaki. The minister had proposed a fresh two-week lockdown due to the drastically rising number of new infections and Covid-19-related deaths in recent days.The reasons for the decision were not given, but observers have concluded that economic considerations played a role.The rapid spread of the Delta variant in recent weeks has significantly exacerbated the coronavirus crisis in Iran. On average, there is one death every three minutes and one newly infected person every three seconds in the country.On Tuesday more than 500 Covid-19-related deaths and almost 40,000 new infections were recorded within one day. The total number of deaths in Iran now stands at more than 95,000, and the number of infections at more than 4.2 million. In many cities, doctors and nurses are overwhelmed, hospitals are full and emergency rooms are overflowing with new cases.The vaccination programme for the more than 83-million strong population has also stalled due to the country’s economic crisis. So far, just 3.3 million Iranians have been fully vaccinated.