Iran’s Strategy against Coronavirus Welcomed by WHO: Health Minister
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki said the country’s national mobilization plan to contain the novel coronavirus has been fully embraced by the World Health Organization’s experts.
In an interview with IRINN TV channel on Thursday, Namaki said Iran has briefed 12 senior experts of the WHO on the national mobilization plan for addressing the coronavirus.
The WHO experts have strongly welcomed the initiative and announced that such a strategy could be registered as a successful model in Iran, he added.
The minister said if the free movement of suspicious cases of coronavirus in the society is prevented and the necessary training is provided, the chain of the contagious disease will be cut off.
Iran’s strategy in addressing COVID-19 involves an increase in the rapidity of detection of the infected cases, Namaki stated, adding that the number of nationwide laboratories has been raised from 3 to 50 and will reach 70 by the next week to that end.
Unlike the early days of the outbreak when all cases, including the suspicious and the infected ones, were swarming hospitals in a panic, medical centers have now defined separate paths to divide the entry and exit of the suspicious cases and patients, the minister said.
He also highlighted the promising results of implementation of the national mobilization plan in four most contaminated provinces, including Qom and Gilan, saying the pace of discharge of patients has outstripped admissions in the two hardest-hit provinces.
According to Namaki, some 3.5 million people have been screened for coronavirus over the past two days alone, and 1,200 cases have been detected, 270 of whom have been admitted to the hospital.