Iran’s Coronavirus Situation to ‘Greatly Change’ in Coming Days: Minister

“We have made great advances in the diagnosis of the novel coronavirus. This has helped us identify more COVID-19 cases across the country. More people will recover in the coming days. This will greatly elevate Iran’s international standing in regards to stemming the coronavirus outbreak," Namaki said on Thursday while speaking on the sidelines of a video conference with officials of the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office.

During the meeting, the WHO officials praised Iran’s anti-coronavirus initiative, known as the “national mobilization against the coronavirus”, and called for the application of Iran’s experience in the Eastern Mediterranean region, according to Press TV.

Under the country’s “national mobilization against the coronavirus” campaign, Iran has sought to conduct a nationwide examination to identify COVID-19 patients and manage its response against the outbreak.

In his remarks on Thursday, Namaki said that more than 90 percent of the initiative’s target population had been “covered”.

Namaki had said on Wednesday that over 67 million Iranians had been screened for the disease.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting with WHO officials, Namaki stressed that Iran’s “positive situation” among the countries in the eastern Mediterranean region was due to public cooperation.

The health minister added that Iran has yet to fully control the disease and that physical distancing restrictions imposed across the country will be extended as planned until next week.

According to the latest numbers released by Iran’s Health Ministry on Thursday, 50,468 Iranians have contracted the disease, 3,160 of which have lost their lives. Another 16,711 people have also recovered for the disease.

Iran, which is grappling with widespread US sanctions banning medical aid from reaching the country, has been among the worst affected by the disease.

The country’s ranking in the number of confirmed cases has, however, dropped from second place to the sixth over the past month despite US sanctions.