Iran Warns of 'Rising Trend' as Virus Cases Top 100,000

Firefighters disinfect a street against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Firefighters disinfect a street against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Iran Warns of 'Rising Trend' as Virus Cases Top 100,000

Firefighters disinfect a street against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Firefighters disinfect a street against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran warned on Wednesday of a "rising trend" this week in the COVID-19 outbreak as it said 1,680 new infections took its overall caseload beyond the 100,000 mark.

Iran has struggled to contain the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak since announcing its first cases in mid-February.

Concerns were raised last month about the threat of a "second wave" of the virus in a report by parliament that criticized the government's slow response.

"We are witnessing a rising trend in the past three or four days, which is significant," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference.

The rise was "based on our behavior, especially in the past two weeks, considering that a part of society has apparently had a change of attitude," he added.

The newly reported infections brought the country's overall number of confirmed cases to 101,650.

On Saturday, Iran's official tally of daily infections hit its lowest level since March 10, but cases have picked up again since then.

Jahanpour said the spike in cases could be due to an increase in movement across cities and unnecessary travel.

Iran has allowed a phased return to work to revitalize its economy since April 11 and reopened mosques in parts of the country deemed to be at low risk.

Jahanpour also said the death toll rose by 78 in the past 24 hours to 6,418.

Out of those hospitalized, 81,587 had recovered and were discharged while 2,735 were in critical condition.

A report published by parliament in mid-April said the real death toll could be as much as 80 percent higher than what the government announced.

It said the officially announced figures were based only on "patients that are hospitalized with severe symptoms".

It also said a "second wave" of the virus may come next winter, possibly without a break due to containment measures taking too long.



Russia Says US Using Taiwan to Stir Crisis in Asia

Participants wave Taiwanese flags during the Kuomintang (KMT) National Congress in Taoyuan on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Yu Chien Huang / AFP)
Participants wave Taiwanese flags during the Kuomintang (KMT) National Congress in Taoyuan on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Yu Chien Huang / AFP)
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Russia Says US Using Taiwan to Stir Crisis in Asia

Participants wave Taiwanese flags during the Kuomintang (KMT) National Congress in Taoyuan on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Yu Chien Huang / AFP)
Participants wave Taiwanese flags during the Kuomintang (KMT) National Congress in Taoyuan on November 24, 2024. (Photo by Yu Chien Huang / AFP)

The United States is using Taiwan to provoke a serious crisis in Asia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told TASS news agency in remarks published on Sunday, reiterating Moscow's backing of China's stance on Taiwan.
"We see that Washington, in violation of the 'one China' principle that it recognises, is strengthening military-political contacts with Taipei under the slogan of maintaining the 'status quo', and increasing arms supplies," Rudenko told the state news agency.
"The goal of such obvious US interference in the region's affairs is to provoke the PRC (People's Republic of China) and generate a crisis in Asia to suit its own selfish interests."
The report did not cite any specific contacts that Rudenko was referring to.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, a claim that Taiwan's government rejects. The US is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic recognition.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rudenko's remarks outside office hours.
In September, President Joe Biden approved $567 million in military support for Taiwan. Russia responded that it was standing alongside China on Asian issues, including criticism of the US drive to extend its influence and "deliberate attempts" to inflame the situation around Taiwan.
China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing shortly before launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.
In May this year, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged a "new era" of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world.