Iran is at risk of seeing another surge in coronavirus cases in the near future, Hamid Souri, an epidemiologist, said on Monday.
“The health system needs to be prepared and increase testing and monitor borders,” Souri was quoted as saying by ISNA.
According to the expert, the situation with the pandemic was “more fragile” than before and Iran and a few other countries could expect a peak in infections.
“There is no active patient detection system in our country, testing has dropped so there is no clear picture of the pandemic,” Souri noted.
He referred to statistics provided by several regional nations as the basis for his argument that infections were on the rise.
Over 50 nations across the world have reported a surge in positive cases. A few of them, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, are located in the Middle East, where many Iranians travel to.
On Saturday, the National Coronavirus Headquarters announced that it was no longer mandatory for citizens to wear facemasks in open spaces.
Souri said he was against the new announcement, “We’re hearing concerning news. I’m absolutely against easing Covid measures.”
Warnings about facing another surge in COVID cases come as Iran experienced the first day with zero COVID deaths in June 2.
The country’s COVID death toll has remained single digit ever since and the country had another day with no COVID-related deaths on Monday.