BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 19
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is on the rise in Iran, said the President of Iranian Medical Council Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, Trend reports citing ISNA news agency.
According to Zafarghandi, if the number of people staying at home in line with the government recommendations increased up to 20 percent, the threat of the spread of the virus would be reduced. If this does not happen, the disease may last for two months or more, he noted.
Zafarghandi added that real statistics on infection rates in Iran are much higher than official data published by the Ministry of Health. In his words, this happens because many people avoid being tested and pre-screening conducted by the ministry according to the World Health Organization protocols.
"Many people are have not yet passed the tests and analyses," he said.
Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 17,000 people have been infected, 1,135 people have died. Meanwhile, over 5,700 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 Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.