Iran Relaxes Despite Claims To Spread COVID-19 In The Middle East

JAKARTA - The corona virus or COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in various countries in the world. The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has even started to become epidemic in the European country that first made policies to ward off COVID-19, namely Italy. In addition, countries in the Middle East and North Africa also reported that there were cases of COVID-19 in their countries.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the first country in the Middle East to confirm a case of COVID-19. On January 29, the UAE Ministry of Health said four family members from China who had arrived from Wuhan had tested positive for the virus.

Egypt also reported its first case on February 14, according to the Ministry of Health in Cairo. On February 19, Iran reported that two people died in the city of Qom after testing positive for COVID-19. Authorities have since reported 95 infections and 15 deaths.

Lebanon confirmed its first case on February 21. A 45-year-old Lebanese woman caught COVID-19 after traveling in Iran. Israel also reported its first case the same day. An Israeli woman who was evacuated from a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan tested positive after arriving home. After that Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and Oman reported their first cases, all of the sufferers admitted after traveling from Iran.

Iran's "chill" in the face of COVID-19

The number of reports that sufferers of COVID-19 in Middle Eastern countries previously traveled from Iran did not make the country highly anticipate. This can be seen from the absence of an isolation policy.

Iran has no plans to quarantine cities and towns despite the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak across the country. This was conveyed directly by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

President Rouhani told a cabinet meeting that health authorities would only carry out individual quarantine. The authorities only appealed to the public not to visit the city of Qom, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran. But the government said they would continue to open religious tourism in the city, which attracts millions of Shiites.

The representative of the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Mohammed Saeedi, said that the reason people come to the place is to calm the soul. It is a soul healer, it would be unfair if it had to close down. But he acknowledged that caution was also needed and that staff would follow hygiene standards.

"Homes for healing mean people will come here to be healed of mental and physical illnesses. Therefore, it must be kept open and people should be encouraged to come here," said Ayatollah Mohammed Saeedi.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Iran alone totaled 270 cases, 26 were reported dead and 49 people were successfully cured. In addition, Iran is also considered a COVID-19 case in neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Pakistan.

This week alone, two Iranian officials have been infected with the COVID-19 virus. First is Iran's Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi. The day before he had a fever during a press conference where he said mass quarantine due to COVID-19 was unnecessary.

A day after the notification that Iraj Hatirchi was quarantined for a cure for COVID-19, Masoumeh Ebtekar, one of Iran's vice presidents, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Ebtekar is well known outside of Iran for his role as a spokesman for Iranian students who took dozens of hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran during the 1979 crisis. Ebtekar was present at a meeting with President Rouhani and the Iranian cabinet on Wednesday, February 26, 2020.

#Iran coronavirusMore officials test positive. Masoumeh Ebtekar, highest ranking female, & MP Zolnour head of parliament's national security committee. Yesterday Ebtekar was with Rouhani & cabinet. # كرونا https://t.co/Sn0OrkR8Bj

- Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) February 27, 2020

President Rouhani assured Iran that his government would be transparent about the scale of the COVID-19 outbreak. He said this after the US said it was concerned with information suggesting the Iranian regime may have hidden details regarding the virus outbreak. Rouhani accused Iran's arch-foe of trying to use COVID-19 to spread fear in Iranian society.

"The corona virus must not be used as a weapon for our enemies to stop work and production in our country," Rouhani said, quoted by the BBC, Friday, February 28, 2020.

The actions taken by Iran have actually led to pressure so that news related to COVID-19 is not too publicized. The Isna news agency reported that the head of Iran's new cyber police unit, Vahid Majid, has announced the arrest of 24 people suspected of being "rumors" about the outbreak.