SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iranian health minister Saeed Namaki warned of a fourth wave of coronavirus with the possible spread of a mutated virus in the worst-hit country in the Middle East.
“Hard days are beginning for us and you must prepare to fight the most uncontrollable mutated virus which is unfortunately infecting the country,” Namaki told heads of medical colleges in a meeting carried live on state TV on Saturday, according to Reuters.
Namaki said the three first deaths this week from the new coronavirus variant first found in Britain suggested that the virus was spreading and soon “maybe found in any city, village of family”, Reuters reported.
There was a 71-year-old woman with no history of travel among the deaths.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told state television that “alarm bells were ringing for a fourth coronavirus wave” as at least nine cities and towns in the southwest were declared high-risk “red” zones after a rise in cases on Friday.
The health minister urged Iranians to avoid gatherings in order “not to turn weddings into funerals” during one of the traditionally most popular wedding months in the country.
The country of more than 80 million people had lost close to 59,000 lives out of more than 1.5 million cases of coronavirus infections as of Saturday.
Iran started a vaccination drive on Tuesday, two weeks after declaring there were no “red” cities left in the country.
On Friday, Iran received 100,000 of the 2 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine it has ordered, according to Reuters. State media reported that Russia might increase the order to 5 million shots and allow Iran to produce the vaccine locally.
Iran’s health minister has said Iran would also receive 4.2 million doses of AstraZeneca’s shot, purchased via the international vaccine mechanism COVAX, according to AFP.
Iran plans to vaccine 1.3 million people by March 20.
