Iran could soon be facing 200 deaths a day due to Covid-19, warned the country's deputy health minister in comments on Sunday.
"Almost the entire country is on code red thanks to corona and the situation is not good at all," said Iradj Harirkhi, in comments carried by the ISNA news agency. He said that, if people do not begin to follow advice on hygienic precautions, then Iran will soon see an average of 200 dead a day.
Harirkhi said the Health Ministry is sceptical of recent moves by the government to loosen the coronavirus lockdown, because that has led the populace to stop taking the disease seriously. That has, in turn, led to dramatic increases in deaths and infections.
The last 24 hours alone have seen 216 new deaths, bringing the overall death toll to 15,700. The total number of coronavirus infections is 291,172, the Health Ministry told the IRNA news agency.
A push by Iran's ruling clerics to go ahead with next month's Ashura ceremonies, despite worries about the coronavirus. The annual event routinely draws huge crowds and health experts say new infections will be unavoidable if they go ahead as usual.
President Hassan Rowhani has indicated he will allow the commemorations, most likely because he lacks the power to overrule the clerics.
Ashura is marked by Muslims to commemorate the day Moses was saved from the Egyptians. However, for Shiite Muslims, the day has special significance, as it marks the death of Imam Hussein, one of the grandsons of the prophet Mohammed, at the Battle of Karbala in Iraq in 680 AD.
