New Delhi: The President of Iran Hassan Rouhani on Saturday alerted his countrymen to stay safe amid people are infecting by the delta variant of coronavirus across the world.
Rouhani said that “The country could witness a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as the highly contagious Delta variant is spreading in the nation.”
According to a media report, “There are concerns that the whole country may enter the fifth wave if enough care is not taken in following health protocols… The Delta variant entered the country from the south and southeast and we should have been careful to prevent its spread in the country.”
Rouhani urged his people to follow several guidelines and protocols if they don’t want to face severe restrictions again. Average daily COVID-19 reports in Iran have increased by 21 percent over the past two weeks.
The Middle Eastern country had imposed a lockdown in several parts owing to a fourth COVID-19 wave.
The US media reported that, since the pandemic began, the country has reported more than 3.2 million cases and more than 84,000 deaths. Iran struggled to control one of the worst outbreaks in the world after officials downplayed the severity of the virus, while a power struggle also complicated the country’s pandemic response.
According to the ‘Our World in Data project’ at the University of Oxford – the vaccination campaign in the world has been slow, as about two percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
Alireza Raeisi – Deputy Health Minister at Iran’s Health Ministry said “officials estimate less than 70 percent of Iranians are currently adhering to health and safety rules aimed at curbing the virus.”
On the vaccination program of Iran, Rouhani said that “Iran’s vaccine shortage would be eliminated by importing foreign vaccines and the use of domestically-produced vaccines. Iran had received more than 2.1 million AstraZeneca vaccines by May, among other imported vaccines, through COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing program.”