Two Patients Recover from Coronavirus in Northern Iran

Governor General of the Northern province of Gilan Arsalan Zare said that all efforts have been concerted for countering coronavirus, adding that two of the patients hospitalized for the infection have been sent back home after their full recovery was confirmed by tests.

Two individuals infected by the virus were dismissed from hospitals after full recovery, Zare announced at a press conference on Monday.

He added that two more patients have been diagnosed with the infection.

The epicenter of the outbreak is the Central city of Qom and official reports have so far showed that the virus has been contained in the Central city. All others that have been diagnosed positive have had a travel to Qom.

As a preventive measure, Iranian authorities have ordered a week-long closure of educational and cultural institutions across 14 provinces as of Sunday.

These provinces include Qom, Markazi, Gilan, Ardabil, Kermanshah, Qazvin, Zanjan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Hamadan, Alborz, Semnan, Kordestan and the capital, Tehran.

Spokesman for Tehran’s Department of Education, Masoud Saghafi, said the decision was made to “prepare schools” which have to be disinfected and sanitized.

Tehran’s Mayor Pirouz Hanachi said Sunday that all the city’s public places, including the metro trains and buses, are being disinfected every night as part of attempts to contain the spread of the virus.

Head of Food and Drug Administration Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz also said that pharmacies will no longer be allowed to sell protective masks and that masks will be distributed among the population via government-run centers free of charge, with the priority given to virus-hit provinces.

Iran’s Minister of Science, Research, and Technology Mansour Qolami called on all university deans to make every effort to maintain a calm atmosphere and adopt effective measures to prevent the virus from spreading.

More than 2,600 people have died of coronavirus since it began more than a month ago in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. 

Countries like South Korea and Iran are reporting growing number of infections despite a fall in cases in China in recent days.

The coronavirus can cause various illnesses, ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as pneumonia. Common signs of the infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, coughing, shortness of breath, and other breathing difficulties.