Crowded City Streets as Coronavirus Travel Bans Tighten

iranwire.com – In Iran, traffic and travel restrictions in more than 25 provincial capitals remain in place, and police officials say that traffic on inter-provincial roads has declined by 42 percent. Nevertheless, the problem of crowded public spaces within the cities persists and, according to First Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, the parks and the streets became more crowded after the roads were closed.

“We are against crowds. When we close offices people should not start going around shopping malls; when we ban traveling on the roads people should not start going around the city,” said Harirchi.

On the other hand, President Rouhani announced that the restrictions imposed in 25 provincial capitals have been effective and asked for them to continue. He emphasized that containing the spread of coronavirus and reducing the number of patients, and especially hospitalizations, were priorities, so these restrictions are the only solution. “From this point of view,” he said, “immediate intervention through enforcing strict restrictions in areas in a red state of alert is the effective way to go.”

According to Rouhani, a proposal to shut down all non-essential businesses from 6pm in all provincial capitals from November 10 to December 10, as well as a ban on driving private cars in these cities from 9pm to 4am, had been reviewed and was due to be presented to the National Coronavirus Taskforce for its approval on Saturday, November 7.

Referring to a report by the taskforce’s Operations Base that said 86 percent of the traffic to and from the 25 provincial capitals was under control, Rouhani said “the achievements and the weak points in the enforcement of these restrictions must be intelligently analyzed to reduce the weaknesses and enhance the strengths.”

General Kamal Hadianfar, commander of Iran’s Highway Police, said that during the implementation of traffic restrictions in 25 provinces, approximately 7,500 vehicles had been stopped and forced to return to the points of their departure. He also reported that legal action has been taken against the drivers of 3,799 vehicles and 49 vehicles had been impounded and towed away.

Provinces Round-up

The crisis in Kermanshah province that started in mid-October continues. Mehdi Mohammadi, spokesman for the coronavirus taskforce at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, reported that the number of hospitalizations in the province had broken a new record. “In the last 24 hours alone, 308 new patients have been hospitalized across the province and 549 new cases have been confirmed,” he said.

Mohammadi also reported that the number of coronavirus hospitalizations in the province had reached 1,174, of whom 145 are being treated in ICUs. With the death of 13 more Covid-19 patients in Kermanshah in the last 24 hours, the total number of fatalities in the province stood at 933 as of November 5.

Wedding and mourning ceremonies are banned in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, announced Jafar Mardani, deputy provincial governor for political, social and security affairs. He reiterated that reception halls in the province are not allowed to host any ceremonies. As an added measure, he said printing houses are not allowed to print wedding invitation cards or banners.

With the death of another 15 patients in the last 24 hours, the total coronavirus death toll in Alborz province reached 1,809, reported Dr. Mohammad Fathi, president of Alborz University of Medical Sciences. He also reported that 121 new Covid-19 patients were hospitalized in the province during the same time period.

As of November 5, 914 people with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 were hospitalized in treatment centers of Alborz province. As of that date, 407 of these patients had tested positive.

Iran’s Latest Coronavirus Statistics

In her daily briefing for November 5, the health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the last 24 hours:

Dr. Lari also reported that all 31 Iranian provinces are in red, orange or yellow states of alert.

This is part of IranWire’s coronavirus chronology. Read the full chronology