Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour announced on Monday that the IRGC has formed a biological defense base to fight against the epidemic of COVID-19 virus infection in Iran. RNA - “All modern warfare units of the ten bases of the IRGC Ground Force are standing on full alert and a biological defense base has been set up,” General Pakpour said on Monday.
He added that the microbiology and virology experts and specialists of the IRGC Ground Force have also been sent on missions in areas contaminated with coronavirus.
General Pakpour also said that the IRGC has mobilized several teams to supply sterilizing materials and disinfect hospitals and streets.
The Iranian Health Ministry said on Monday that the number of people infected with coronavirus in Iran increased to 1,501, adding that 66 patients have died so far.
It added that 291 coronavirus patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals across the country.
Reports from different cities and towns of Iran indicate strenuous efforts by the officials to help the coronavirus patients and prevent an epidemic.
According to the latest reports, the novel coronavirus has killed over 3,000 people worldwide, the vast majority in mainland China. There have been more than 88,000 global cases, with infections on every continent except Antarctica.
The coronavirus is spreading in the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world, as Brazil confirmed its first case in Latin America, while parts of China begin to lower their emergency response level as the number of new cases reported there continues to slow.
Washington state health officials said Saturday a person has died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. It was the first reported coronavirus death in the United States.
The Iranian health ministry had said last Tuesday that over 700,000 sanitation packs, including equipment to prevent coronavirus-infection have been transferred to Qom province, the first place where the COVID 19-infection was diagnosed, and are being distributed among people.
As a preventive measure, Iranian authorities have ordered closure of educational and cultural institutions across the country as of Monday.
Tehran’s municipality announced that all the city’s public places, including the metro trains and buses, are being disinfected at the end of the line every hour as part of attempts to contain the spread of the virus.
Head of Food and Drug Administration Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz also said that pharmacies will no longer be allowed to sell protective masks and that masks will be distributed among the population via government-run centers free of charge, with the priority given to virus-hit provinces.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stressed Iran’s high capabilities to prevent an epidemic of novel coronavirus infection.
According to Fars News Agency, Iran’s Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting last Wednesday to brief a WHO representative and the foreign ambassadors residing in Tehran on the latest preventive and therapeutic measures taken by the country to contain COVID-19, as the novel coronavirus is called.
In comments at the meeting, the WHO representative said Iran has the necessary fundamental capabilities to tackle the epidemic, and that Tehran’s performance has been as “successful and exemplary” in the region and the world.
The Iranian Health Ministry officials, who were also present at the meeting, reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to the international health regulations and standards.
Iran enjoys all the technical and specialized capabilities needed to battle the coronavirus, they stressed.
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