On Thursday, March 26, 2020, Iran’s President Hassan ROUHANI presented new measures by the government to fight the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran and hoped they would cut the coronavirus transmission chain within two weeks.

Elaborating on counter-coronavirus measures taken by his government to reduce the damages of the deadly virus, the President noted the followings:

• The Armed Forces have prepared some 4,000 beds in case of emergencies;
• Social distancing will be placed across the country;
• Special financial assistance will be provided to those businesses which have suffered losses due to the coronavirus outbreak, such as:
  • $17.8 billion have been allocated for the plan expected to be implemented by the Central Bank of Iran and in cooperation with other domestic banks;
  • 12 percent the interest rate of the loans, and the payment period is two years;
  • $1.19 billion will also be allocated for employer-provided insurance in the next three months;
  • the domestic health and treatment sectors also need a bigger budget, which, in addition to the money needed for unemployment insurance, would amount to $1 billion.
• Intercity travels will be restricted and only residents will be allowed to enter their cities. If someone wants to travel to another city illegally, his or her car will be impounded for a month and the driver will be fined;
• Meanwhile, rail, road, and air transport will be limited.

According to the plan, which will run for two weeks as of March 27, expressing hope that the new plan would cut the coronavirus transmission chain thus giving the government a new chance in taking fresh measures to lower infection cases.

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President ROUHANI hailed the efforts made by the officials at the Ministry of Health as well as the medical staff across the country including doctors and nurses who are in the front row of the battle against the deadly virus. Also, he said Iran is in better condition than other world countries in terms of battling and containing the coronavirus, stressing that the Islamic Republic has about 20,000 empty beds at hospitals.

His announcement was made during the session of the Economic Committee of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus, where he further said the national reserves are sufficient enough to provide for people’s basic needs.

In addition, the President stated “To withdraw the money from the National Development Fund, we sent a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei today. We need the budget to equip our hospitals and afford the health and treatment costs.”

Iran is fighting with both coronavirus and sanctions, while other countries are countering the virus only and have multiple sources.

On the other side, Kianoush JAHANPOUR, head of public relations and information center of the Health Ministry has already declared that over 47 out of 83 million Iranians have been screened, underlining that the screening process continues.

So far, Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East having about 27,017 people infected with the coronavirus, while the virus has killed 2,077 Iranians.

This story contains reporting from IRNA, Tehran Times, Iran-Daily, and Press TV.

Photo’s source: IRNA.