Page 11 - IRANRptSep21

2.6 Iran brings in six-day lockdown as health service creaks under ‘fifth wave’ virus pressure
Iran will from August 16 impose a six-day-long “general lockdown” in cities across the country. The country’s health services are reeling from what officials say is a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All public offices as well as bazaars, markets, cinemas, gyms and restaurants in all Iranian cities must be shuttered under the lockdown.
The national coronavirus taskforce has also announced a travel ban between all Iranian cities that will run from August 15 to 20.
Only around 3.8mn of Iran’s 84mn people have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. Tehran has complained that US sanctions have interrupted financial channels required for the rapid accessing of vaccines against the virus, but at the same time the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may have hindered vaccine sourcing efforts after issuing a warning that US and UK vaccines could be used in a dark conspiracy against Iranian people and banning the use of American and British vaccines. One of the vaccines Iran is using in its inoculation programme is Iranian-made.
Iran’s official pandemic death toll on August 15 stood at 97,828, with another 620 deaths reported in the latest 24-hour cycle. There were also 36,736 newly recorded coronavirus infections, taking the total to 4.43mn since the country’s virus outbreak began early last year.
11 IRAN Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com