Iran announces 6-day lockdown

The national anti-coronavirus task force, led by President Ebrahim Raisi, said on Saturday the nationwide shutdown will begin on Monday and last through Saturday. All offices, banks and non-essential businesses will be shut down.

 

Health Minister Saeed Namaki called for an urgent two-week lockdown enforced by the military to prevent a full collapse of the country’s strained health system.

 

 

It remains to be seen whether this new effort will have a meaningful effect on curbing the deadliest pandemic of the Middle East, now in its fifth wave defined by the Delta variant.

 

The health ministry said on Saturday 466 more Iranians died of COVID-19 and 29,700 more cases were discovered in the past 24 hours. The official death toll since February 2020 stands at more than 97,000, but officials have said the real number is likely much higher.

 

Tehran experienced its deadliest day on record on Friday, when 390 people died, including 216 from COVID-19. That figure broke a grim record in the 51-year history of Behesht-e Zahra, the capital’s cemetery, which is the largest in Iran.

 

The latest colour-coded map denoting the severity of outbreaks shows that zero cities are classified as “blue”, which indicates the lowest level of alarm. That is while a whopping 358 counties, encompassing almost all of the country’s 31 provinces, are classified as “red”.