lockdowns Archives - Iran News Daily

Iran Schools Opened After Seven Months

reporter 1222 — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 04:30:12 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran on Saturday opened the new school year after nearly seven months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This year, we shoulder a heavier burden of responsibility toward our students,” said President Hassan Rouhani, who oversaw the opening of schools in a video conference broadcast live on state television.

“Education will not be closed in our country even under the worst situation,” he said, urging authorities to implement health measures in schools to the level of those in military garrisons.

Education and health are equally important to society, he said, but added that parents would not be forced to send their children back to school.

Several medical professionals have voiced concern over the reopening of schools and universities in Iran, which is the worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic in West Asia.

Concerns over reopening of schools

Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, the government-appointed head of Iran’s Medical Council, said in a letter to the education minister that the “surprise decision to reopen schools would no doubt lead to an increased burden” on the country’s medical workers.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Education Minister Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei defended the government’s decision to reopen the schools, saying that there is no alternative to face-to-face education.

He said that face-to-face education is better than other types of education in terms of quality.

However, the Education Ministry has announced that some parts of the country, for now being limited to red cities, will provide online education. In the orange and green zones, in-person teaching will be the option.

Haji-Mirzaei noted that a hiatus in education will pose a psychological risk to students and society in the future.

He added that the health of students and their families and the continuation of education are the government’s most important priorities for taking any decision.

Since late February, Iran has been struggling to contain the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, the deadliest in West Asia.

Iran closed schools, canceled public events and banned intercity travel in March. The government, however, began to progressively lift restrictions in April to gradually reopen its sanctions-hit economy.

New coronavirus figures

The country’s Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari on Saturday put the death toll from the novel coronavirus at 22,154, saying the disease took the lives of 110 patients from Friday to Saturday.

The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 infection rose to 384,666, following the detection of 1,894 new cases during the same period, the spokeswoman added.

She added that at least 332,131 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far or have been discharged from hospitals across the country.

Among those undergoing treatment in medical centers at present, 3,708 patients are in critical health condition, Lari noted.

IRNA, Tasnim and Reuters contributed to this story.

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Italy to Ease Coronavirus Lockdown on May 4

reporter 1222 — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 13:04:19 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Italy will announce before the end of this week its plans for the gradual ease of measures starting from May 4 from a lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus emergency, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday.

The lockdown, closing most Italian businesses and preventing people from leaving their homes for all but essential needs, has been in place since March 9, putting a major strain on the euro zone’s third-largest economy.

“I wish I could say: let’s reopen everything. Immediately. We start tomorrow morning … But such a decision would be irresponsible. It would make the contagion curve go up in an uncontrolled way and would nullify all the efforts we have made so far,” Mr. Conte wrote in a Facebook post.

“We must act on the basis of a national (reopening) plan, which however takes into account the territorial peculiarities.”

After the government shuttered businesses not deemed essential to the supply chain on March 22, calls have recently been growing from industry lobbies to reopen some activities to prevent an economic catastrophe.

Italy’s Treasury expects the economy to contract by around 8 percent this year, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Monday, underscoring the negative impact of the nationwide restrictions.

Mr. Conte said the easing of restrictions would happen on the basis of a thorough study and scientific data and not to “satisfy a part of public opinion or to satisfy the requests of some product categories, individual companies or specific regions”.

“The easing brings with it the real risk of a decided increase in the contagion curve and we must be prepared to contain this ascent to the minimum levels so that the risk of contagion is ‘tolerable’,” he added.

Such a plan would not only ensure that companies followed the necessary safety precautions at work, but that is also considered the flow of workers such as opening would generate and its impact on public transport, especially during peak times.

“The easing of the measures must take place on the basis of a well-structured and articulated plan,” he added.

The number of new COVID-19 cases dropped to 2,256 on Monday, the lowest level in well over a month, the Civil Protection Agency said.

The total death toll stood at 24,114, the second-highest in the world after that of the United States.

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WHO: Lifting Lockdowns Must Be Gradual

reporter 1222 — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 08:36:29 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that any lifting of lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus must be gradual, and if restrictions were to be relaxed too soon, there would be a resurgence of infections.

Lockdowns have proved effective, and people must be ready for a new way of living after lifting measures to allow society to function while the coronavirus is being kept in check, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

We must adapt our lives and health systems along with the epidemic, Kasai told an online press conference.

“At least until a vaccine, or a very effective treatment, is found, this process will need to become our new no Governments considering lifting lockdown measures should do so carefully and in stages, and continue to monitor the epidemic situation, he said. So long as the coronavirus is circulating, no country is safe from a potentially overwhelming outbreak, he said, Reuters reported.

“Individuals and society need to be ready for a new way of living,” he said.

While the Western Pacific has in recent weeks been much less hard hit by the epidemic than the United States or Europe, there has been an increase in cases in Japan and Singapore, among other countries.

Kasai also warned that the epidemic must not disrupt vaccination programs against other diseases like polio, measles, and rubella. Otherwise, the Western Pacific could face a new crisis when health systems are already strained, he said.

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