A volunteer from Basij forces wearing protective suit and face mask sprays disinfectant on the streets, amid the coronavirus disease fears, in Tehran, Iran April 3, 2020. WANA /Ali Khara via REUTERSDUBAI: Shopping malls and bazaars reopened in Iran on Monday despite warnings by some health officials that a new wave of coronavirus infections could ripple through the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic.
"Medium-risk businesses like shops in ... bazaars or beside each other in buildings like shopping centres will be allowed to reopen while respecting health protocols,” Rouhani said on Sunday in a televised meeting of his coronavirus task force. "Everything depends on the degree to which people are respecting the health protocols. People should not think that the situation has become normal again," Mohammad Asayi, an adviser to the health minister, told state TV.The protocols call for Iranians to maintain social-distancing, wear masks in public and wash their hands regularly, but are advisory only with no penalties for infractions.
But Alireza Zali, head of the government-run coronavirus task force in Tehran, cautioned that reopening businesses risked"The most important point is that more commuting, especially through public transportation, adds to the possibility of the spread of the virus," Zali told state TV. The health ministry said on Monday the Islamic Republic’s death toll from COVID-19 had reached 5,209 among a total of 83,505 infected people. The 24-hour tally of new deaths, however, has been falling over the past days.