(Tehran) Wearing a mask will be compulsory to enter certain covered public places in Iran, President Hassan Rohani said on Saturday, while 148 new deaths have been recorded in the country, the most affected by the pandemic in the Middle East.
Posted on July 4 2020 at 9 a.m. 28
France Media Agency
At a meeting of the Committee to fight the epidemic, Mr. Rohani announced the entry into force of the new measure as of Sunday: “From tomorrow, you will have to wear a mask if you want to enter in a covered place, “he said.
Since the end of June, the Ministry of Health launched a “I wear a mask” campaign to encourage Iranians to protect themselves against the virus.
The new daily report brings the total number of victims to 11 408 dead, Sima health ministry spokesman Sadat Lari said on state television on Saturday.
“In the past 24 hours, we have identified 2449 new cases linked to the virus, bringing to 237 878 the total of contaminations “, added M me Lari.
The application of the new measure could however be difficult because, according to the Municipality of Tehran, many people do not wear a mask when using public transport in the capital where it is already compulsory.
M. Rohani also said that implementing this instruction requires “some sort of enforcement guarantee.”
“In administrative offices, it could be easier: by a decree, we can prevent people without masks from entering it,” he said.
The Islamic Republic, which announced its first cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus on 19 in February, is by far the most affected country in the Middle East.
According to Mr. me Lari, the provinces of Khuzestan, western and eastern Azerbaijan, Khorassan- é-Razavi, from Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Bouchehr, Ilam and Hormozgan are classified “red” according to the risk scale established by the authorities.
Those of Tehran, Fars, Isfahan, Mazandaran, Hamadan, Zanjan, Sistan-Baluchistan, Alborz and Lorestan are on the alert, she added.
