A woman wearing mask shops at a shopping center in northern Tehran, Iran, on March 5, 2020. Iran on Thursday launched a national plan to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak, as its death toll climbed above 100. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)
TEHRAN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran announced the launch of a national plan on Thursday to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The move, called National Mobilization Plan to Combat COVID-19, will gather all the Iranian medical and health institutions as well as the Basij (volunteer) forces under the rubric of Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education and will mobilize them closer to the households, Saeed Namaki, the health minister, was quoted by official IRNA news agency as saying.
The plan will be initially implemented in the regions with high contamination rate of the virus, and it will be extended to Iran's other regions in the following days, Namaki said.
Based on the plan, family members suspicious of symptoms of the disease will be invited to the medical centers, he said, adding that in case they are diagnosed positive with the disease, they will receive instructions and medication while quarantined at their homes.
In case the patient is not recovered and their problems get acute, they will be hospitalized for further treatments, the Iranian minister noted.
He said that over the past days, country's medical centers have been equipped with supplies, and the management has become more efficient and organized.
Kianush Jahanpur, head of public relations and information center of the ministry, also said that the number of laboratories for testing the viral infection across the country has increased to 25 centers and it will be raised to 40 centers in the next week, according to IRNA.
On Thursday, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced that the outbreak of novel coronavirus has affected 3,513 people and 107 of them have died in Iran.
It said that a total of 1,352 cases of infection are from the capital Tehran. The central city of Qom reported 386 cases, the northern Rasht city 333, and Isfahan 180.
As a protective measure, the Iranian government on Thursday extended the closure of all schools and universities until March 19 which is the end of the current Iranian year, Tasnim news agency reported.
Meanwhile, it was announced that the university entrance exams for the master's and PhD degrees have been postponed.
Cinemas and theaters will also remain closed for another week, Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance announced on Thursday.
Iran announced the first cases of viral infection in the central Qom city on Feb. 19.
