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RFL/RE – The global death toll from the coronavirus is almost 350,000 with more than 5.4 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here’s a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL’s broadcast regions.
Iran
Iran has reopened its religious shrines, some two months after closing them due to the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak.
The shrines were reopened on May 25 amid a gradual easing of restrictions put in place to contain the pandemic, which has killed 7,451 people and infected over 137,000, according to official figures. Real numbers are believed to be significantly higher.
The measures come after Iranian President Hassan Rohani said the day before that 10 out of the country’s 31 provinces are now in the virus “containment stage.”
Rohani said shrines will be open each day for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening while observing strict health protocols. The limited reopening of holy sites comes after Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Iran in mid-March closed key holy shrines, including the Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad and Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom, where the first cases of coronavirus were reported in February, following criticism of a slow government response to the pandemic.
Videos posted online by Iranian media on May 25 showed visitors, some wearing masks, running toward the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad while being guided by attendants.
In a statement posted on its website, the shrine said visitors must observe health protocols such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and bringing their own prayer mats and other accessories.
Another video showed the reopening of the Masoumeh shrine in Qom, where there appeared to be a disregard for social-distancing rules aimed at preventing the spreading of COVID-19.
The closure of the religious sites, visited every year by millions of pilgrims who often touch and kiss the shrines, had triggered protests by hard-liners who attempted to break in to the two shrines.
Museums and historical sites were reopened on May 24.
All government employees working from home must return to their offices on May 30, Rohani said over the weekend.
Sports activities are due to resume without spectators and universities are due to reopen in early June.
