Collective immunity, hope of the Iranian authorities to get out of the Covid-19 crisis? This is what emerges from the words of President Hassan Rohani, Saturday, July 18. According to him, some 35 million additional Iranians are at risk of contracting the coronavirus, so 25 million inhabitants may have been infected since the first cases identified in February. The number of officially registered cases in Iran is 271,606.

"We have not yet achieved collective immunity," the head of state said during a televised meeting of the National Committee to Combat the Pandemic, adding that "25 million Iranians could be infected by the disease "according to a report from the research department of the Ministry of Health.

A president's press secretary said on Twitter a few hours later that "the 25 million" refer to "those who contracted the virus and obtained immunity".

"We have to assume that 30 to 35 million others are at risk of infection," added Hassan Rohani and the country must be prepared to see the number of hospitalizations double compared to the last five months according to the report.

Gregarious immunity

Hassan Rohani is the first senior Iranian official to suggest that the country is counting on gregarious immunity to eradicate the virus. This indicates the proportion of people immunized against a virus (by infection or by vaccine) which must be reached to block any risk of resurgence of an epidemic.

The report also points out that "out of 1,000 cases of infection 500 show no symptoms," said Rohani, warning that these people remain the "main challenge" because they "spread the virus more and over a longer period" than the cases detected.

The development of the Iranian president comes at a time when the new coronavirus seems to be progressing again since the beginning of May in the country, the most affected by the pandemic in the Near and Middle East.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari announced 188 new deaths from the disease on Saturday, bringing the total to 13,979.

Faced with the resurgence of the disease, the authorities have made it mandatory to wear a mask in covered public places and have re-imposed restrictions in the most affected provinces, including the capital.

The new coronavirus has officially infected nearly 14 million people worldwide since the onset of the disease in China in late 2019. Some 588,000 people have died.

With AFP

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