TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the Iranian society is required to adapt itself to new conditions created due to the coronavirus spread, as the virus may linger here for one or two years.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Rouhani added, “It is not like we say that in a week or 10 days there would be no coronavirus in Iran and the world,” IRNA reported.

He said the coronavirus has come, entered the society and is here, noting that, “We are required to prepare the society for a kind of confrontation with it.”

Commenting on his video conference with Iranian medical experts and specialists on Saturday, the president said, “I asked them whether we are past the peak of the coronavirus contagion in the country, and they said in some provinces, yes, but in some others, this cannot be said for certain. Some said we should wait until the end of the New Year holidays (April 3) to be able to assess the country’s situation.”

He noted that all of them agreed that the coronavirus spread was a surprising issue for the world and that no medical authority predicted that almost all countries would, one day, be grappling with such an invasive and contagious disease, capable of infecting such a large number of people in such a short time.

Rouhani added the experts said a similar virus had attacked the world 140 years ago, but nothing like that had happened up to now.

He said the experts and specialists noted that coronavirus is like the seasonal flu that comes and goes and reaches a peak at a certain time of the year. “Thus we are required to prepare ourselves for learning how to continue our life under the circumstances where the virus is still in the society until a vaccine or effective cure would be developed, which is not the case at present.”

Therefore, Rouhani, said, efforts are required to prevent a peak in the spread of the virus in a particular province or city lest the health system would experience severe difficulty and anxiety.

“We are required to manage the situation in such a way to enable our health system to treat patients and thus help gradually overcome the crisis.”

He said perhaps a large number of the experts stressed that the government should continue enforcement of the restrictions for another week, noting that the move would boost confidence about a better resumption of activities in the society.

On Friday, the Iranian government began implementing a social-distancing plan to contain the coronavirus spread and announced that it will continue until April 8. Under the scheme, the government banned unnecessary intercity and intracity travels, closed inessential businesses and commercial centers and imposed a public lockdown.

Rouhani added the resumption of activities does not mean that the conditions will return to normal and the society can stop complying with the hygiene protocols.

“We are required to continue this new lifestyle which includes refraining from shaking hands, keeping a certain distance from each other, promoting the use of telephone, cyberspace and the Internet. Our life has become electronic and this has to continue for a while.”

The president stressed that the disease may help create opportunities for progress in certain fields, such as promoting the use of the cyberspace and online businesses in the country.

He said the experts told him that the government’s efforts to fight coronavirus have been acceptable and effective and called for special investments to develop a vaccine for the disease in the country.

Rouhani stressed that the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting Coronavirus has, up to now, made no decision without discussing it in expert committees first.

The president added in addition to protecting the public health, boosting domestic production is also an important issue for the government as people have a number of basic needs that must be met.

He described as very important ensuring the security of the society, saying Iran’s Armed Forces and police are constantly working to this end.

Warning against sparking any political, partisan or racial disputes, Rouhani said the coronavirus spread is a global issue and “we want to resolve it successfully”.

He called on his government and people to strengthen their confidence in each other and do their best to become closer to one another in order to achieve better results.

The president said according to a report by Health Minister Saeid Namaki, Iran has an acceptable place in the global ranking in terms of fighting the coronavirus spread and the number of the recovered patients.

He noted, “The health minister said that, in general, this week the situation of the country had been better compared to the previous one.

“Despite being under US unilateral sanctions, we have been able to resist well against the virus.”

In May 2018, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), ‎signed between Iran and the P5+1 in July 2015, and reimposed Washington’s unilateral sanctions on ‎Tehran. The sanctions have hindered, among many other things, the delivery of international humanitarian ‎aid, drugs, and medical equipment to Iran, particularly, now that the country is fighting against the ‎coronavirus. ‎

He stressed, “We are required to be ready for the post-coronavirus period.”

The president appreciated efforts by the country’s physicians, nurses and medical staff, saying the Iranian government uses all its capacities to fully support those who are fighting coronavirus at the forefront of the domestic health sector, as people’s health is the most important issues of the country.

The coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease, emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in ‎Hubei Province late last year and is currently affecting a large number of countries and territories across ‎the globe. It has infected and killed people in a large number of countries. ‎