Iran launched a campaign on Saturday to motivate a reluctant public to use face masks as the country faces a sharp increase in infections and deaths from the coronavirus.
Iran was one of the worst-hit countries early in the pandemic, and since restrictions to stem its spread were gradually lifted from mid-April, cases have increased again, with the death toll topping 100 a day in the past nine days for the first time in two months.
In the previous 24 hours, 2,456 new cases were recorded, taking the total to 220,180, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state television. She said 125 people had died, bringing the total to 10,364.
Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi told the Iran’s Young Journalists Club semi-official news website that in one province, 120 people had been infected after attending a wedding party. He did not identify the province.
-
An Iranian sanitary worker disinfects Qom's Masumeh shrine on February 25, 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. AFP -
Iranian Firefighters disinfect streets in the capital Tehran in a bid to halt the wild spread of coronavirus on March 13, 2020. AFP -
A nearly empty Hazrat Masumeh Shrine in Qom, Iran on March 1, 2020. AFP -
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi (left) wipes the sweat off his face, during a press conference with the Islamic republic's government spokesman Ali Rabiei in the capital Tehran on February 24, 2020. AFP -
An image grab of footage obtained from Iranian State TV IRINN on February 25, 2020, shows Iran's deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi speaking in a video apparently shot by himself, regarding being infected with coronavirus. AFP -
Iran's Azadi (Freedom) Tower is lit up with flags and messages of hope in solidarity with all the countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic, in Tehran on March 31, 2020. AFP -
Iranian workers set up a makeshift hospital inside the Iran Mall, northwest of Tehran, on March 21, 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak. - Iran said that 123 more people had died from coronavirus, raising the official death toll to 1,556 in the Islamic republic, one of the world's worst affected countries. AFP -
Volunteers wearing protective clothing, take part in disinfecting a village during the coronavirus outbreak, in the outskirts of the city of Ghaemshahr, in north of Iran, on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. AP Photo -
Shoppers clad in protective gear, including face masks and shields and latex gloves, due to the coronavirus pandemic, walk through the Tajrish Bazaar in Iran's capital Tehran on April 25, 2020. AFP -
A customer wears a protective masks at a pharmacy in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 24, 2020. AFP -
A Tehran Municipality worker cleans a bus to avoid the spread of Covid-19 on February 26, 2020. AFP -
A man stands by the closed gate outside the Imamzadeh Saleh in the Iranian capital Tehran's Shemiran district on April 25, 2020 . AFP -
Labourers unloading medical equipment and coronavirus testing kits provided by the World Health Organisation, from a UAE military transport plane upon their arrival at Mehrabad International Airport in Iran's capital Tehran. AFP
Launching the “#I wear mask” campaign, he pleaded with citizens, especially young Iranians, to take the disease seriously.
“In our country, every 33 seconds, one person is infected with the coronavirus, and every 13 minutes, one person dies from it,” he said.
“I desperately – and in a friendly way – plead with people to co-operate in observing medical protocols for their own sake and that of others.”
Wearing a face covering to avoid spreading the virus is not mandatory in Iran and the guidance is widely flouted.
Mr Harirchi said on television that wearing masks reduced the risk of the spread of the virus by 85 per cent.
State television on Friday aired interviews with several patients in hospitals who said they contracted the virus after attending wedding parties, wakes and other gatherings.
The director of Cinema Organisation of Iran Hossein Entezami said 18,000 people went to movie theatres when they reopened on Friday.
