Iran is on the lookout for a fresh wave of Covid-19 pandemic as the head of the Health Ministry’s Center for Infectious Disease Control, Shahnam Arshi, warned that another surge was likely.
“Right now, we are concerned and we’re waiting for a possible fresh wave of the disease,” Arshi was quoted as saying by ISNA on Saturday.
The Iranian government has loosened coronavirus-related restrictions and advocated a return to normalcy for the past months to revive its economy following the vaccination of a large portion of the population.
“It’s been nearly two months since we’ve had a Covid wave or significant number of infections,” Arshi said.
The health official pointed to the spikes in Covid cases in the United States, Europe, and certain Asian nations such as Japan and China in the past two months and said, “Covid has not ended anywhere in the globe.”
Arshi expressed concern over international travel near Christmas but noted that a new peak might not be as severe as the previous waves.
He advised Iranians to wear facemasks in crowded places and observe health protocols to prevent transmission rates from going up.