Iran
People pay respect to medical personnel of the Iranian navy at Tehran's Golestan hospital on April 19, 2020. Photo: Fars News
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iranian security forces have detained 3,600 people over spreading misinformation about the novel coronavirus, the spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces said on Wednesday as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a wide-ranging interview with state-owned Tasnim News Agency, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi highlighted the efforts of the armed forces, including the police, in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic.“In relation to corona, FATA police is active one hundred per cent in the cyber space and in this regard as of now 3,600 individuals have been detained by NAJA and Basij,” Shekarchi said referring to the Police for the Sphere of the Production and Exchange of Information(FATA) and the Disciplinary Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (NAJA).
“1,136 judicial dossiers have been lodged,” he added.
Government health officials have had an acrimonious relation with the armed forces, in particular with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC,) over the way they have taken matters into their own hands during the pandemic.
Defying guidance from the health ministry, the IRGC held a funeral for senior commander Hossein Assadollahi on March 24, attended by thousands of officers and their supporters.
“Given the expertise of the doctors, nurses and the paramedics of the armed forces, the average recovery of the patients in the armed forces hospitals is more than [in] the other hospitals,” Sherkarchi said adding that out of 58 hospitals belonging run by the armed forces, 54 were admitting patients.
Iran has been become the regional epicenter of the pandemic with 5,957 people dead and close to 100,000 people infected with the virus. Of this number,54 soldiers have contracted the virus, but all have recovered. Four members of the armed forces’ medical teams have died.
Tehran has been hesitant to impose the wide-ranging lockdowns seen in many neighbouring countries, although measures have been introduced to curb the spread of the virus.
Businesses were allowed to reopen in April after non-essential enterprises were ordered closed following the end of the Nowruz holiday on April 4.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced plans earlier this week to gradually reopen the country through a colour-coding system.
Any region coded “white”- with no new infections or deaths will be allowed to reopen mosques and resume Friday prayers, according to the president.
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