President Urges Iranians to Take Coronavirus Seriously
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani has urged the entire nation to take the novel coronavirus seriously ahead of the Persian New Year holidays, vowing that the government is working hard to minimize the COVID-19’s tolls on the people’s lives.
“Everybody must take the issue of coronavirus seriously,” President Rouhani said in a weekly cabinet session on Wednesday.
There is a consensus in the world that to fight coronavirus, the chain must be cut from its origin, Rouhani said, urging people to minimize their urban and interurban travel.
President Rouhani said, “The Government members are doing their best to minimize the COVID-19 tolls on the economy and people’s lives.”
He further appreciated the hard work of all the people involved in fighting COVID-19 in the country, saying, “The upcoming Nowruz holidays are a good opportunity to win the fight against coronavirus.”
Rouhani said the holidays shouldn’t turn into unmanaged travels, giving the virus a chance to further spread in the country.
He went on to say that Iranian Foreign Ministry is also active with all means to help fight coronavirus.
“The government is doing its best to deal with this crisis, but it should not affect people’s daily lives,” the president in a televised address, said and added, “Our effort is to make people’s lives not become an unbearable critical situation so people’s needs like electricity, water and gas should be met.”
Rouhani went on to say, some think that only one ministry is fighting the Coronavirus, but I have to tell them that the whole government is involved and all ministers do their jobs.
“Today, the armed forces, municipalities, the media for Tele-education are all confronting Coronavirus,” he said.
The president also demanded people to use the app provided by Health and Telecommunication Ministry to use for statistics on Coronavirus and other applications to get things done.
“We are aware that people are under economic pressure which, of course, will be compensated later,” he added.
Rouhani asked people not to care about rumors and added, “These rumors sometimes are in cyberspace and sometimes on television. Rumors should not disturb people’s spirit of resistance. Fear and anxiety are more dangerous than corona.
The president noted, “Some say to ban the city entrance some say do not. We must ban the entrance of cities that have been ordered and defined by the Covid-19 Headquarters.”
Rouhani highlighted, “By staying at home and less commute we would be safe. The tough days will be gone, we again will start our normal activities soon, we will go to holy shrines like ever. I hope to have a healthy, safe and sound New Year.”
The president said, “We should not let gossips weaken spirit of Resistance, adding that fear and anxiety are more dangerous than coronavirus.”
The novel coronavirus has so far infected over 8,000 and killed nearly 300 people in Iran.
The government has closed all schools and universities until the end of the Iranian calendar year, and reduced working hours in order to keep people indoors and contain the virus.
