Iran reports 3,000 new coronavirus cases, highest daily count in two months

On June 1, Iran’s health ministry announced that the country recorded over 3000 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in 24 hours, the highest single-day jump in more than two months, warning about the second wave of infection. The new cases jumped the total tally to 154,445, while 81 new fatalities were also registered, bringing the death toll to 7,878.  

In a televised address, Health Minister Saeed Namaki was quoted saying that the new cluster could be a sign of another "dangerous peak" in Iran's deadliest outbreak. Further, he added, people seem to think the coronavirus pandemic was over in Iran, and some officials believed everything was back to normal, but far from it, Namaki stressed. The coronavirus was not only far from over but could, at any moment, see the second dangerous peak, he was heard saying in a televised interview, addressing the Iranian people. 

Ministry spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour, said at a COVID-19 daily briefing that the fatalities from the disease surged by 18 with respect to the count as of May 31. He added, the provinces of Sistan, Baluchistan, Kermanshah, and Hormozgan noted the sudden rise in the infections, as over three other provinces, recorded a spike in the overall death toll. He, however, did not name the province and the tally in specific. Jahanpour stressed if the rate of transmission wasn’t controlled the deaths could well spike to three digits again. He was quoted saying, infections in the Islamic Republic are on a rising trajectory in recent trend post a two-month low as the graph decelerated since May 2. 

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Shrines reopened after 2 months

Earlier, as per local media reports, Iran reopened major Shiite shrines across the country nearly after two months closure to stem the coronavirus outbreak. Popular shrines of Imam Reza located in northeast Iran, Fatima’s shrine as well as the Jamkaran mosque located in the holy city of Qom was opened to the public. However, the government urged the worshippers to adhere to the health safety norms and wear protective masks while visit. At Tehran’s Shah Abdol-Azim shrine, worshippers were asked to pass via a disinfection tunnel and get temperature checks before entering the site. 

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