Iran orders 4-fold increase in number of COVID-19 outpatient centers
Iran would increase the number of its outpatient centers to deal with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coroanvirus pandemic, by more than four times after President Hassan Rouhani ordered a ramp-up of measures to tackle the virus amid a renewed surge in the number of positive cases in the country.
Iran’s health minister Saeid Namaki said on Sunday that COVID-19 outpatient centers, where free tests and treatments for the disease would be available, would increase to 5,000 from 1,200 centers currently active in the country.
Namaki said the increase came to comply with a decree by Rouhani which was issued earlier in the day to strengthen Iran’s anti-virus measures.
“In outpatient health clinics all tests will be free. Medicines required by the patients will be delivered to them free-of-charge,” said Namaki.
The minister added that quarantine measures will be strengthened for patients at homes or in hotels while an extensive tracing mechanism will be applied to monitor the movement of those deemed at risk of infection or spreading it to others.
He said the number of tests carried out across Iran to detect the virus would more than double to reach 100,000 per day.
“We increased the tests from 25,000 to 40,000 and with introduction of new antigen tests ... for which we have fortunately reached mass production through domestic manufacturing, we will soon carry out 100,000 tests each day,” said Namaki, while adding that rapid antigen tests will be distributed to all neighborhoods and families with higher risk of contracting the virus.
A health ministry spokeswoman said on Sunday that number of positive coronavirus cases in Iran had increased by a record number of 12,543 to reach a total of 762,068 cases.
Sima Sadat Lari said the number of deaths from the virus had also surged by 459 over the past 24 hours to reach a total of 41,493 in nearly nine months of COVID-19 outbreak in Iran.
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