Commander: No Coronavirus Positive at Army Bases

“Despite concerns over the outbreak of the coronavirus, this issue has had no effect on the Iranian Army’s main mission in maintaining the country’s defense capabilities and security,” Rear Admiral Sayyari told MNA on Sunday.

He then discussed the Army’s extensive activities in combating the spread of the coronavirus, such as rendering treatment to the patients.

“The Army is in charge of defending the country, but alongside this duty, it has also rendered its medical services to the people. For example, we have tasked a number of hospitals, such as Hajar, Be’sat, Golestan and the one in Rasht with providing medical care to the patients, and have also established several field hospitals for this purpose,” Rear Admiral Sayyari added.

The admiral went on to stress that the security conditions in Iran are at their best despite the coronavirus outbreak.

“If the country’s security is undermined, it will be irrecoverable,” he stressed. “That is why there must be no disruption in the Army’s missions.”

“We will do our best to keep everyone in good health. To this day, no one has tested positive for coronavirus at the Army’s garrisons,” Rear Admiral Sayyari said.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting over 170 countries and territories around the world. The virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has so far killed more than 13,000 people and infected over 308,000 others globally.

Iran reported on Saturday 1,556 fatalities and 20,610 cases of infection. Meanwhile, 7,635 people have recovered.

The Iranian foreign ministry declared that despite Washington’s claims of cooperation to transfer drugs to Iran via the new Swiss-launched payment mechanism, the US is troubling the process amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Although US claims that medicines and medical equipment are not under sanctions, they have practically blocked the transfer of Iran’s financial resources in other countries into the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said.

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.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced earlier this month 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.