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.



Türkiye’s Erdogan to Discuss Ukraine War with NATO Chief

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024 (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024 (Reuters)
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Türkiye’s Erdogan to Discuss Ukraine War with NATO Chief

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024 (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024 (Reuters)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday during his visit to Ankara, a Turkish official said on Sunday.
Russia struck Ukraine with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use of US and British missiles against Russia, marking an escalation in the war that began when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
NATO member Türkiye, which has condemned the Russian invasion, says it supports Ukraine's territorial integrity and it has provided Kyiv with military support.
But Türkiye, a Black Sea neighbor of both Russia and Ukraine, also opposes Western sanctions against Moscow, with which it shares important defense, energy and tourism ties.
On Wednesday, Erdogan opposed a US decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia, saying it would further inflame the conflict, according to a readout shared by his office.
Moscow says that by giving the green light for Ukraine to fire Western missiles deep inside Russia, the US and its allies are entering into direct conflict with Russia. On Tuesday, Putin approved policy changes that lowered the threshold for Russia to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack with conventional weapons.
During their talks on Monday, Erdogan and Rutte will also discuss the removal of defense procurement obstacles between NATO allies and the military alliance's joint fight against terrorism, the Turkish official said.