President Hassan Rouhani expressed fears that Iran will be hit by a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to an outbreak of the Delta variant. "It is feared that we are on the way to a fifth wave throughout the country," Rouhani told a meeting of Iran's anti-virus taskforce, warning the public to be careful as "the Delta variant has spread" in southern provinces.
Covid-19 has killed more than 84,000 people out of over 3.2 million detected infections in the Islamic republic, according to official figures that authorities admit do not account for all infections. The health ministry has classified as "red" -- the highest category on Iran's coronavirus risk scale in Tehran and nine other cities in Tehran province.
The southern and southeastern provinces of Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan are also now classified as "red". Iran says it is struggling to import vaccines for its population of 83 million. - AFP
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