Minister: Iran to begin human COVID-19 vaccine trial soon

Iran reported its first two COVID-19 cases on February 19 in the city of Qom.

The central province of the same name quickly became one of the worst-hit, along with the northern province of Gilan, a popular tourist resort.

Official figures have shown an upward trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month low in daily recorded infections.

Iran recorded 162 coronavirus deaths on Monday, its highest figure for a single day.

Epidemic still in first wave

The Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said Iran’s coronavirus epidemic is still in its first wave.

“The coronavirus is currently peaking in border provinces or cities which did not experience a peak in the first months of the outbreak,” said Lari.

“Therefore, we’re still witnessing the first wave in the country,” she said, quoted by IRNA.

According to Lari, Iran would only have a second wave if there was another rise in cases in provinces that “had a significant peak” when the first cases were declared.

The spokeswoman said on Tuesday another 147 people had died of the virus in Iran from Monday to Tuesday.

Lari said that the number of positive COVID-19 cases had increased by 2,457 to reach 227,662.

She said the total number of deaths from the virus had reached 10,817 while adding that there has been 188,758 recoveries.

Mandatory measures

The surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases in Iran has promoted the government to introduce measures for mandatory wearing of masks in public places. The government has said that it could toughen its restrictive measures within a month if the spread of the virus does not slow down.

Authorities have for weeks been urging citizens to use protective equipment.

“Our attempts so far have been to avoid entering the second wave” of the outbreak, government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference on Tuesday.

“Considering the problems the coronavirus has created for the economy, we have no choice but to try to live healthily in coexistence with the virus every day,” he added.

IRNA, Press TV, and AFP contributed to this story.