Coronavirus: Iranians face mourning and self-containment

In Iran, the fifteen days of New Year's vacation, which is coming to an end on Saturday, April 4, raise fears of a massive return of the 3 million Iranians who took advantage of these holidays to travel to the country, despite the warnings from the authorities on the risks of the spread of Covid-19.

Without being officially confined, residents have been called for several weeks to stay at home "as much as possible". After having done everything to avoid imposing containment or quarantine measures, the government ended up prohibiting all travel between cities from March 27 only, one week after the departure for the Iranian New Year holidays. However, travel within each region is authorized.

The country is one of the most affected by the pandemic, with an official death toll of 3,294, 53,183 cases confirmed by the authorities, including 4,035 in critical condition as of April 3. Figures questioned by the population in a climate of distrust of the Iranian authorities.

Iranian schools and universities have been closed since the end of February. Parliament was suspended, then Friday collective prayers were canceled, and four major Shiite religious pilgrimage sites closed, notably in Qom. It was in this city, the center of Shiism in Iran, that the first cases of contamination with Covid-19 had been recorded on February 19. But Qom was never quarantined.

Faced with the growing death toll from coronavirus victims, many Iranians do not understand the late reactions of the country's authorities. France 24 has collected their testimonies.

Mahsa *, 40, employee in a travel agency in Tehran

"It has been a month since I left the apartment. Not even to walk on the street. My daughter made a drawing yesterday, she represented the whole family, gathered, to celebrate the birthday of my father who takes place in June The children are magic. I can’t stand without anxiolytics. My father has been in a coma, on a ventilator for 3 weeks. He is 70 years old. After a week of hospitalization, they sent him back to at home, we thought he was cured, but they mistook him for a namesake. I don't know what to do other than pray. So we pray as a family. The worst thing is loneliness. To know him alone, him, in the hospital, and to know my mother alone with her doubts. My grandmother passed away last week. She was 93 years old, she died of old age. We have to mourn everyone at home.

Our travel agency has closed. In any case, there were no more flights and all group trips were canceled. My boss pays me until the end of the month, but after that he won't be able to. Some colleagues have started to apply for unemployment assistance. We are entitled to it for three weeks, I must do it for myself too. My husband is an engineer, he is telecommuting, because 50 people were infected in his business. He will assure us a salary for the home.

I can't help but think that bad decisions have been made. For a very long time we maintained flights with China and our Tehran airport became a "hub" for passengers who wanted to leave this country. And if the state had confined us more seriously, we would not have arrived there. We learn about the death of a loved one every day. I lost a colleague my age. He died in three days. In my distant family, three elderly brothers died, all three together.

We put ourselves in very strict quarantine: I don't go out, my husband goes shopping once a week and we disinfect all the packages. He found hydroalcoholic gel and masks quite easily, but their price doubled.

The only thing that makes me happy is solidarity. A colleague launched a kitty to help people who could no longer pay their rent. Very often they are women and housekeepers paid by the day, for example. He has raised quite a bit of money, other friends have helped him and they have been able to avoid catastrophic situations for many families with children. "

Golnar *, 36, employed in a bank in Tehran

"I am about to fly to Tehran in a few hours. I will put on a mask and gloves. I am in Shiraz with my parents [1,000 km south of Tehran, editor's note]. you don't have to move from town to town but I have no choice. My boss doesn't want us to telecommute, he's not very cooperative, I blame him. And at the same time not given clear instructions. What reassures me is that the bazaar and the shopping centers have closed. But I don't know if they will reopen with the end of the holidays. With my parents here in Shiraz, we tried to confine ourselves. We’re still going to visit my sister twice, taking precautions.

At the moment everyone is fine, but it's trying. All the disasters have been linked this year with threats from the United States, the crash of the Ukrainian plane, and now the coronavirus ... Each time it is as if we lowered our heads to avoid a missile and another misfortune falls on us before we even have time to recover. "

Reza *, 67, head of a company importing surgical and laboratory equipment

"I worked night and day for two weeks to produce hydroalcoholic gel in the back room. My wife begged me to stop because I had heart surgery two years ago. But quite frankly, I I had no choice. I put my health aside. It is my duty.

We experienced two weeks of severe shortage of disinfectants. Our customers, my entourage, we were all very anxious. But we have passed this stage thanks to our internal productions since around March 20. The state asked us, our importers and manufacturers of medical products, to operate the factories. We adapted our assembly lines which produced cleaning products for hospitals, and we took up the challenge. Stopped factories have also been restarted elsewhere in the country.

It has been two months since I received any medical supplies from China, where many of our suppliers are located. No gloves, no masks either. We have two large factories that produce them in Iran, up to 5 million a day. Unfortunately it is not enough. Orders have been placed in China, I don't know if they have been fulfilled. In the meantime, dressmakers have also been called in as reinforcements to make masks. Colleagues also produce large quantities of gowns for nursing staff.

I spent my time on the phone last week trying to import PCR tests for coronavirus. There are none left for sale in the Middle East. Dubai, Kuwait, Turkey… I tried everything. The state asked private laboratories to make them available, most of them accepted. What reassures me is that we have not yet encountered a problem with the respirators. In recent years, Iran has multiplied the construction of hospitals in the provinces with intensive care units, equipped with respirators for the sick.

In view of the international sanctions imposed on our country, I expected worse. The response of the medical industry to the crisis we are going through, I find it correct. But the management of containment is poor. We lost a month and a half. I do not understand why our leaders do not hear the calls for help from our doctors. Qom, then the Gilan [second epidemic outbreak in Iran at the start of the crisis, note] should have been quarantined immediately in mid-February. The number of deaths from Covid-19 is undoubtedly underestimated, as elsewhere in the world. The situation is changing quickly.

I am going back to work tomorrow after a few days off for the Iranian New Year, this will serve as a test. "

Mitra *, 41, founder of a home meal delivery start-up in Tehran

"I decided to impose teleworking on my employees at the beginning of March. The programmers, the communication officers ... All work from home and the cooks too. Only the delivery men go out to transport the meals, but we ask them not to come in to customers. In any case, our activity has dropped by 80%. Most people prefer not to eat cooked food outside their homes to reduce the risk of infection. Fortunately , none of my employees are sick at the moment.

The State grants loans at preferential rates to start-ups in difficulty because of the Covid-19. I did the math and borrowing would be like getting into debt. It is the future of my business that is threatened. "

* The first names have been changed.

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