BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 28
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
As many as 783,000 people have registered to receive unemployment insurance in Iran since March 13, said Masoud Babaee the Director General of Unemployment Insurance and Job Support of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, Trend reports citing Mehr news agency.
According to Babaee, movement and activities were restricted after the spread of the coronavirus in Iran. Therefore, the unemployment insurance system was launched.
Babaee said that unemployment insurance covers only 654,000 people out of the total number of registered people. If funds are allocated by the Planning and Budget Organization of Iran, they will be paid out.
"Some 50 trillion rials (about $1.19 billion) should be allocated to insure those who have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus," he said.
The official said that the number of people receiving unemployment insurance was 260,000 last year (from March 21, 2019 to March 20, 2020).
Babaee said that currently, work is prohibited in workplaces where there is a high risk of coronavirus infection.
"The operations have started in workplaces with a low risk of coronavirus infection since April 11 in other provinces of Iran, and since April 18 in Tehran province. Although a number of enterprises have received work permits, they may not be able to return to their previous activities," he said.
According to the official, certain enterprises and employees must be supported over a period of time.
Iran continues to apply measures to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 infection. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 92,500 people have been infected, 5,877 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 72,400 have reportedly recovered from the disease.
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.