Health Ministry’s latest update to Iran’s map of COVID-19 cases raised the number of cities on red alert by 105% from last week’s 120 to 247 amid the relentless spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Starting this week, none of the cities across the country are color-coded as blue (low-risk), IRNA reported.
The highly contagious Omicron has replaced Delta as the dominant variant in Iran as infections, hospitalizations and mortalities continue to skyrocket.
Deputy Health Minister Saeed Karimi announced on Saturday that over 60,000 people make visits to hospitals due to Covid symptoms on a daily basis and 4,000 are hospitalized.
Kindergartens in cities placed on red alert have been ordered to close for one week, spokesman for the National Coronavirus Headquarters, Abbas Shiravjan, said in a tweet posted on Saturday.
“Considering this closure, executive organizations must prepare the grounds for the remote work of mothers with children under the age of six,” he added.
The government has refused to reinstate nationwide restrictions during the sixth wave since the majority of the population has been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Instead, everyone over the age of 18 have been encouraged to receive a third booster shot and vaccine eligibility has been extended to kids over five years old.
Over 137.3 million vaccine doses have been administered since the start of the immunization campaign last year. More than 61 million Iranians have received the first dose, 54.7 million have gotten the second dose and 21 million have been given the booster shot.
The Omicron variant has 50 mutations that enable the strain to easily travel from one person to another. It is especially targeting children with Iranian officials saying that 20% of the sixth wave’s coronavirus patients are kids.
Iran began giving out vaccine jabs to children under the age of 12 one day after the Omicron variant was detected in the capital of Tehran in late December.