Iran extends nationwide COVID lockdown for another week
Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran
The nationwide lockdown the government implemented on November 21 ended on Friday.
While the daily infections did undergo a drastic change over the past two weeks, the daily death toll fell from 470+ ahead of the lockdown to 358 on the last day.
The government says thanks to the shutdowns, the alert level in 96 cities, including the capital, has moved from red to orange.
But health officials say there's no reason be complacent with the improvement in the numbers.
On Thursday, the total covid cases in the country surpassed the 1 million limit.
This means one in every eight Iranians now have the virus.
The Rouhani administration says it's still too soon to lift the curbs, and all restrictive measures will continue to be in place at least for another week.
On the last day of the lockdown, the National Coronavirus Task Force sent a mass text message to all Iranians, informing them of the extension of the lockdown.
For now, all non-essential businesses still are not allowed to open in the red zones. Travels to and from both red and orange zones are still banned, and the night curfew will continue to be in effect in both red and orange zones at least for another week.
The time interval between a person's infection with the virus and their death is roughly one month. So experts say it's too soon to relate the falling figures to the lockdown.
Now as the pandemic is still far from being harnessed, health officials say the lockdown is not over until figures reach the desired limit.
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