TEHRAN – The National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control has approved to impose strict restrictions for 10 days as of Wednesday in 46 cities that have the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in the country.

In today's meeting of the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control, important decisions were made to set lockdowns in infected cities, which will be implemented for 25 provincial centers and 46 cities with different conditions, ISNA quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying.

Previously, 43 cities had undergone restrictions, but decisions were made to set new limitations on highly-affected areas, which will be applied for 10 days, he noted.

Rouhani said that under these restrictions, educational and gathering places, are prohibited for 10 days.

Our statistics show that 88 percent of the deaths are from the elderly or people with underlying diseases, he lamented.

The infected person must be quarantined, controlled, and intercepted, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications, he said, adding, neighborhoods must meet the quarantined patient needs and to be provided with insurance support.

Under the restrictions, shopping malls, gyms, mosques, salons, universities, schools, libraries, kindergartens, cinemas, museums, cafes, zoos, and amusement parks will be closed.

Three weeks ago, the government set fines for people who endanger the whole society due to non-observance of health protocols or not using face masks.

The violators will be forced to work in hospitals to provide services to coronavirus patients, Reza Asgari, the governor of Zanjan said.

“To prevent the incidence of COVID-19 in Zanjan, a plan called “alternative punishment to imprisonment” approved by the judiciary to punish those who do not follow the health guidelines by working in hospitals to serve COVID-19 patients,” he said.

COVID-19 cases at a record high

In a press briefing on Saturday, Health Ministry spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 7,820 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 612,772. She added that 481,930 patients have so far recovered, but 5,185 still remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, coronavirus daily deaths and new cases hit the record high, as 386 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 34,864, she added.

Lari noted that so far 4,929,005 COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country.

She said the high-risk “red” zones include provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, East Azarbaijan, South Khorasan, Semnan, Qazvin, Lorestan, Ardebil, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad, Gilan, Bushehr, Zanjan, Ilam, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Alborz, West Azarbaijan, Markazi, Kerman, North Khorasan, Hamedan, Yazd, and Kordestan.

The provinces of Hormozgan, Fars, and Golestan and Sistan-Baluchestan are also on alert.

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