Slovenian President: Iranians Capable of Standing against Most Difficult Challenges

Slovenian President Borut Pahor in a message to his Iranian counterpart President Hassan Rouhani voiced confidence that the Iranian people will overcome the difficult situation arising from the coronavirus epidemic.

In his message on Thursday, President Pahor underlined solidarity with the Iranian nation in the fight against coronavirus, extending his condolences to the bereaved families of the coronavirus victims and wishing immediate recovery for the patients.

The Slovenian said that the Iranians have proven that they are capable of standing against the most difficult challenges.

Iran reported on Thursday that a total number of 2,234 coronavirus patients have died and 29,406 cases of infection have been identified in the country so far. Meanwhile, 10,457 people have also recovered.

Meantime, Iranian physicians at Masih Daneshvari hospital in Tehran on Thursday started collecting plasma from people who have recovered after contracting coronavirus and injecting the antibody-rich fluid into patients battling COVID-19 to accelerate his/her recovery.

Head of Masih Daneshvari hospital Ali Akbar Velayati said that the staff of the hospital were the first people who donated their plasma to this end.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting over 195 countries and territories around the world. The virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has so far killed more than 24,300 people and infected over 542,000 others globally.

The Iranian foreign ministry declared that despite Washington’s claims of cooperation to transfer drugs to Iran via the new Swiss-launched payment mechanism, the US is troubling the process amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Although US claims that medicines and medical equipment are not under sanctions, they have practically blocked the transfer of Iran’s financial resources in other countries into the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said.

As the death toll from the virus surges, Iran intensifies its preventive safety measures. Closures of schools and universities have been extended until early April.

The government also imposed travel restrictions, specially on Iran’s north, which is among the red zones. The country has also adopted strict digital health control procedures at airports to spot possible infections.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced earlier this month that a new national mobilization plan would be implemented across the country to fight against the coronavirus epidemic and more effectively treat patients.

Namaki said that the plan will include all the 17,000 health centers and the 9,000 medical and clinical centers in all cities, suburban areas and villages.

He added that the plan will include home quarantine, noting that infected people will receive the necessary medicines and advice, but they are asked to stay at home.

Namaki said that people with a more serious condition will stay at the hospitals, adding that the public places will be disinfected, the entries of infected towns and cities will be controlled to diagnose and quarantine the infected cases.

He added that the necessary equipment and facilities have been provided, expressing the hope that the epidemic would be curbed.

Namaki said that the number of medical laboratories to test coronavirus infection has reached 22, and will increase to 40 soon.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Iran’s response to the virus has so far been up to the mark. Still, it says the US sanctions are a big challenge, and Washington would be complicit in the rising death toll in Iran if it would not remove its sanctions.

The World Health Organization has considered priorities in combating coronavirus and Islamic Republic of Iran obeys and follows up priorities as defined by WHO.

The WHO is dispatching separate delegations to all countries.