Coronavirus pandemic

Cases soar in Iran after reopening, with 300% jump in one province

Shoppers at a bazaar in Teheran last Thursday, after restrictions were lifted late last month. Iran, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, reopened without meeting the benchmarks recommended by health experts and has been hit
Shoppers at a bazaar in Teheran last Thursday, after restrictions were lifted late last month. Iran, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, reopened without meeting the benchmarks recommended by health experts and has been hit by a new surge of coronavirus cases three weeks after reopening, with a spike in numbers in some provinces. PHOTO: NYTIMES

TEHERAN • When Iran reopened its economy late last month, commuters packed subways, people queued up for takeout and traffic snarled highways. Shoppers crowded the traditional bazaars and worshippers resumed communal prayer at mosques.

Three weeks later, the country has been hit by a new surge of coronavirus cases in some provinces, where numbers have spiked again, officials said. Health experts predicted this would happen when restrictions were eased in late April.

Iran, an epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, reopened without meeting the benchmarks recommended by health experts, such as ensuring widespread testing and recording a steady drop in cases for at least several weeks.

The central government has claimed for weeks that Iran was prevailing against the pandemic.

But in reopening the country, President Hassan Rouhani said the battle could not fully succeed independent of salvaging the economy, which was being pummelled by US sanctions even before the virus hit.

The south-eastern province of Khuzestan has seen a 300 per cent jump in new cases. Other provinces with alarming surges include Isfahan, Fars, East Azerbaijan, Khorasan, Lorestan, Hormozgan and Sistan Baluchestan.

"The situation is extremely dire," said Mr Alireza Bahadori, mayor of the city of Behbahan in Khuzestan.

The local officials' cries of alarm were in stark contrast with the central government's claim that Iran has the virus under control.

"It's a source of pride that Iran has managed to not only reopen businesses by observing protocols but also reactivate its mosques and religious centres - and also maintain a steady decline of the disease," Mr Rouhani said last Friday.

NYTIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 20, 2020, with the headline Cases soar in Iran after reopening, with 300% jump in one province. Subscribe