He made the remarks in the open session of the Iranian Parliament on Tue. and said, “effective measures have thus far been taken in controlling the outbreak and we hope that by the end of the next Iranian month [May 20] we will have reached an important stage in battling the pandemic.”

While elaborating on measures taken by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the fight against coronavirus, the health minister said, “the first signs of coronavirus was first reported in China’s Wuhan city and immediately after the outbreak, Ministry of Health held an expert-level meeting and compiled comprehensive programs for combating the disease.”

He further noted that universities of medical sciences in the country were prepared to produce coronavirus test kits, adding that the kits were also designed in the early days of the outbreak in cooperation with the Pasteur Institute of Iran.

“23 epidemiological teams of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education are investigating the outbreak of the disease,” he added.

Coronavirosu will be contained in the country with unity, amity, and cooperation of all walks of life, he said, adding, “in the early days of the outbreak, we managed to put 36 entrances of the country under strict monitoring.”

Of the other measures taken by the ministry, he pointed to ban on the export of face masks, he added.

Unlike many European countries and the US, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education in cooperation with responsible organizations managed to offer quality medical services to coronavirus patients, Namaki emphasized.

He seized this opportunity to express appreciation to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Army, police forces, Basij volunteer Forces and Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) which cooperated with the Ministry of Health in this respect.

Unity, amity and empathy with the support of Leader of the Islamic Revolution were some of the most important factors in the fight against coronavirus, he said, adding, “for this reason, we ordered the closure of schools, universities, academic centers, Friday prayers, holy sites including holy shrines of Imam Reza and Hazrat Masoumeh (PBUH), among others.”

Turning to the implementation of the Social Distancing plan, he said, “in the first phase, we followed the plan of social distancing and ‘smart distancing’ was followed up in the second step. For this purpose, we have compiled a smart distancing plan and informed all organizations about it. Under such circumstances, not only coronavirus will be contained, but also economic activities will be prevented from a total shut-down.”