(Reuters) – President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that 25 million Iranians have been infected with the coronavirus and that another 35 million were at risk of acquiring it, as Iran again imposed restrictions in the capital and elsewhere.
FILE PHOTO: An Iranian woman and her son wearing a protective mask walk down the street after the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2020. WANA (News Agency of Western Asia) via REUTERS
The numbers Rouhani cited in a televised speech were much higher than Saturday’s official figure of 271,606.
His office said they were based on “an estimated scenario” from a report by the deputy minister for research at the Ministry of Health.
“Our estimate is that so far 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus and approximately 14,000 have lost their beloved lives,” Rouhani said in the speech. “There is a possibility that 30 to 35 million other people are at risk.”
He said more than 200,000 people had been hospitalized and that the ministry expected that number to double in the coming months.
REIMPOSED RESTRICTIONS
On Saturday, authorities again imposed weeklong restrictions in the capital Tehran, including banning religious and cultural functions, closing boarding schools, cafes, indoor pools, amusement parks and zoos.
The Health Ministry reported 188 deaths in the last 24 hours to bring Iran’s total to 13,979.
Iran, with a population of more than 80 million, has been the most affected country in the Middle East by the epidemic, with infections and deaths on the rise since restrictions were reduced in mid-April.
Starting Sunday, 22 cities and towns in the southwestern Khuzestan province will be under a three-day closure, the province’s governor announced on Saturday.
That will include Behbahan, where police fired tear gas Thursday at a crowd protesting economic hardship.
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