BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 7
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend
Iran has begun to implement a plan to maintain a social distance from April 7 to prevent coronavirus spread, said Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to Namaki, the public distance must be minimum one meter to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The social distance policy will continue as long as the virus is present in Iran.
"The coronavirus is so prevalent in Iran that it is hard to say when it will be possible to return to normal life," he said.
The minister said that studies show that social distance is effective in combating the coronavirus and reducing infection by more than 95 percent.
Namaki said that people with symptoms of the virus were identified in Iran, and at the next stage, carriers of the virus will be also identified even if they do not have symptoms.
The official added that various economic activities will gradually resume in Iran, while non-collection of taxes, as well as the provision of subsidies have a negative impact on many areas.
Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 60,500 people have been infected, 3,739 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 24,200 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 Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.