TEHRAN,Iran, March 4
Trend:
Iran is implementing coronavirus screening at its ports and docks to check arriving ships, to prevent possible infection, official at Ports and Maritime Organization in Hormozgan Province Allah-Morad Afifipour told Trend.
"The docks are constantly being checked, including the arriving ships, but recently it has become more intense, especially if a ship is arriving from a contaminated country," he explained.
Afifipour said that once a ship arrives, a representative of Hormozgan University of Medical Science and a team of quarantine experts are sent to check the ship as well as the crew members onboard.
"So far more than 400 ships have been tested and no suspicious case has been revealed," he added.
"A ship from the Emirates has arrived on Saturday that brought our citizens who did not have possibility of flying back to Iran. A total of 589 Iranians arrived at the Shahid Bahonar port," he said.
The official pointed out that the number of arriving ships hasn't decreased despite the spread of coronavirus.
Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 2,300 people have been infected, 77 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 400 have reportedly recovered from the disease.
The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.
The disease in the Islamic Republic has spread to nearly all 31 of Iran's provinces.
Following the reports of coronavirus spread in the Islamic Republic, several countries have taken measures, including closing borders and banning flights.
The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.