Iran Increasing Corona Labs

Given the growing number of people infected with COVID-19 virus in Iran, the diagnosis capacity of Pasteur Institute of Iran has increased from 100 tests to 1,200 tests on a daily basis. Authorities said that the capacity will increase to 1,800 tests on a daily basis in the next few days. Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced on Thursday that the capacity of laboratories across the country has grown to 6,000 coronavirus tests daily which is unique in the region. In another front, the Iranian researchers in the University of Kashan manufactured a low-price and high-quality system which produces ozone to disinfect air and surfaces. “The system can produce ozone from the environment’s atmosphere and be used as a powerful system to sterilize the virus-contaminated areas, including surface walls, floors, and ceilings in crowded places,” one of the inventors of the system said. Meantime, reports from the two provinces of Alborz and Semnan said that over 700 coronavirus patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital in the past three weeks after the outbreak. Also, Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced on Thursday that the country’s new national plan has eventually brought under control the rising tides of people’s infection to coronavirus in two provinces which were epicenters of the disease. Namaki said that the number of newly-infected people in the two provinces of Qom and Gilan has decreased compared to the treated patients since the start of the national plan to fight against coronavirus and “now we do not have the stormy waves of the disease in Gilan and Qom”. He added that the plan has been implemented in 4 provinces so far, showing highly desirable results, noting that the health conditions of 3.5mln people have been controlled in the past two days out of whom 1,200 suspected cases have been identified and 270 patients have been hospitalized. “We have increased the number of corona laboratories to 50 and the number will grow to 70 next week,” Namaki said. The Iranian health ministry announced on Thursday that the number of coronavirus infection cases in the country has increased to 10,075, adding that 1,075 new cases have been diagnosed in the past 24 hours. “1,075 new cases have been added to the people infected with coronavirus in the country,” Jahanpour said in his daily report. He added that 75 people passed away due to the new disease in the past 24 hours, noting that the death toll has increased to 429 so far. The number of infected patients has reached 10,075, while recoveries have increased to 3,276 people, Jahanpour said. More than 119,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the world with over 4,300 deaths so far, the vast majority of them in China where the virus originated late last year. The coronavirus is spreading in the Middle East, Europe, US and other parts of the world, while parts of China begin to lower their emergency response level as the number of new cases reported there continues to slow. Authorities across the United States reported over 1,000 cases of coronavirus and 31 deaths as of Tuesday. More than 60 million people in Italy have been placed under lockdown after the government extended emergency measures across the entire country in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Italy is struggling to contain Europe’s worst outbreak of Covid-19, which has claimed 631 lives and infected over 10,000 people. As the death toll from the virus surges, Iran intensifies its preventive safety measures. Closures of schools and universities have been extended for the next two weeks. The government also imposed travel restrictions, specially on Iran’s north, which is among the red zones. The country has also adopted strict digital health control procedures at airports to spot possible infections. Namaki announced last week that a new national mobilization plan would be implemented across the country to fight against the coronavirus epidemic and more effectively treat patients. Namaki said that the plan will include all the 17,000 health centers and the 9,000 medical and clinical centers in all cities, suburban areas and villages. He added that the plan will include home quarantine, noting that infected people will receive the necessary medicines and advice, but they are asked to stay at home. Namaki said that people with a more serious condition will stay at the hospitals, adding that the public places will be disinfected, the entries of infected towns and cities will be controlled to diagnose and quarantine the infected cases. He added that the necessary equipment and facilities have been provided, expressing the hope that the epidemic would be curbed. Namaki said that the number of medical laboratories to test coronavirus infection has reached 22, and will increase to 40 soon. The World Health Organization (WHO) says Iran's response to the virus has so far been up to the mark. Still, it says the US sanctions are a big challenge, and Washington would be complicit in the rising death toll in Iran if it would not remove its sanctions. The World Health Organization has considered priorities in combating coronavirus and Islamic Republic of Iran obeys and follows up priorities as defined by WHO. The WHO is dispatching separate delegations to all countries.