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Iran Reports More than 1,500 New Virus Cases

Iranians wearing protective masks cross a main road in Tehran on April 13, 2020 during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Getty Images)
Iranians wearing protective masks cross a main road in Tehran on April 13, 2020 during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Getty Images)
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Iran Reports More than 1,500 New Virus Cases

Iranians wearing protective masks cross a main road in Tehran on April 13, 2020 during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Getty Images)
Iranians wearing protective masks cross a main road in Tehran on April 13, 2020 during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. (Getty Images)

Iran warned Saturday that coronavirus infections were rising in the southwest despite falls in other regions, as it announced more than 1,500 new confirmed cases.

"All provinces are showing a gradual drop in new infections... except for Khuzestan, where the situation is still concerning," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in televised remarks.

The health ministry stopped publishing provincial figures for the coronavirus last month.

It has instead opted for a color-coded system of white for low-risk parts of the country, yellow for medium-risk and red for high-risk areas.

Latest reports have shown Khuzestan red along with a few other provinces, including the capital Tehran and the Shiite clerical center of Qom, where Iran reported its first cases in February.

Early last week, Iran's official daily caseload hit its lowest level since March 10, but it has since climbed again steadily.

Jahanpour said 1,529 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, taking the overall total to 106,220.

There were 48 new deaths taking the overall toll to 6,589.

Of all those admitted to hospital, 85,064 people had recovered and been discharged.

Experts both at home and abroad have cast doubt on Iran's official figures, saying the actual number of cases could be much higher.

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Australians Celebrate and Protest Anniversary of British Colonization

26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa
26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa
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Australians Celebrate and Protest Anniversary of British Colonization

26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa
26 January 2025, Australia, Sydney: Protesters march towards Victoria Park during an Invasion Day rally. Photo: Steven Markham/AAP/dpa

Australians celebrated and protested across the country on Sunday as Australia Day drew attention to political differences over Indigenous rights months out from a federal election.
Australia Day marks a British colony being established at Sydney Cove on Jan. 26, 1788, which eventually led to Britain claiming the entire country without a treaty with its Indigenous inhabitants.
Indigenous rights advocates call Jan. 26 “Invasion Day” and protest rallies have been held in major cities, The Associated Press reported. Many argue that Australia’s national day should not commemorate such a divisive event.
Australia Day is usually a public holiday and because it fell on a Sunday this year, Monday has been declared a holiday.
Acknowledging the hurt that Australia Day causes many Indigenous Australians, the most disadvantaged ethnic group that accounts for 4% of the population, many businesses refer to the ”January long weekend” rather than the “Australia Day long weekend.”
Australia Day has in recent decades been the date on which immigrants became Australian citizens in public ceremonies. But several local government councils have chosen to hold citizenship ceremonies on different dates due to the controversy.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government has attempted to accommodate differing views of Australia Day since it won elections in 2022.
The government in 2023 decided to allow public servants to work on Australia Day and take another day off instead, reversing a previous conservative government order that they must not work on Jan. 26 when it falls on a week day.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said that all councils will be required to hold citizenship ceremonies on Jan. 26 if his party wins elections due by May 17.
“If the prime minister doesn’t have the strength of leadership to stand up to mayors and others who don’t want to celebrate Australia Day, then our country’s in more trouble than we first realized,” Dutton said two weeks ago.
Dutton has accused Albanese of “equivocating” on his support for Australia Day to appease the minor Greens party.
The Greens party opposes celebrations on Jan. 26. Many observers, including Dutton, expect Labor will lose its parliamentary majority at the next election and may need the support of Greens lawmakers to form a minority government.
Albanese has accused Dutton of being divisive by declining an invitation to attend Australia Day events in the national capital Canberra.
Instead, Dutton attended a citizenship ceremony in his hometown of Brisbane.
“The national Australia Day event should be attended by both sides of the Parliament. They should be bipartisan,” Albanese told reporters on Sunday.
“Why wouldn’t you participate in national events if you want to be a national leader?” Albanese asked.
Australian National University historian Frank Bongiorno said both leaders were using Australia Day for their own political advantage.
"These figures will insist that they want it to be a day of unity, but they’ll invariably behave in ways that promote disunity around the day. That’s really how culture wars work,” Bongiorno said.
Dutton has accused Albanese of dividing Australia along racial lines by holding a referendum in 2023 on Indigenous rights.
Australians voted against a proposal that would have enshrined in the constitution an Indigenous body known as the Voice to address Parliament on Indigenous issues.
Dutton has also accused Albanese’s government of focusing on Indigenous rights instead of a cost of living crisis facing many Australians due to inflation and high interest rates.