Health Minister: Iran Outshining Europe, US in Coronavirus Fight
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Despite facing tough foreign sanctions, the Islamic Republic is outperforming Europe and the US in handling the fight against the novel coronavirus, Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki said.
In comments on the sidelines of a ceremony held on Saturday to unveil new homegrown hospital gowns, Namaki said Iran is outdoing European and American countries in tackling COVID-19 although it is under severe sanctions and international pressures and also struggles with economic problems remaining from the past.
Unlike in the US and Europe, there was not a single nurse or doctor in Iran to go on strike because of a shortage of medical supplies in the early days of the outbreak, he added.
The minster noted that Iran began to store the medical items and banned their exports immediately after the coronavirus broke out in China, and that despite some shortage of gowns and gloves at the beginning, Iran managed to turn from an importer of health products to a powerful exporter within only 50 days.
On Saturday, Iran recorded its lowest daily death toll from the novel coronavirus in 70 days.
In April, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran was in better conditions in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak compared to Europe, although Iran is struggling against the virus of sanctions at the same time.
“You (Europeans) are faced with one virus, but we have two viruses, however, our people have resisted in such a good manner. We took each other’s hands and cooperated. This is a glory for all of us. Our conditions in the fight against the coronavirus is almost well and better in comparison with certain countries,” the president said.