Rouhani, addressing the Iranians: Corona may remain a year or two and we must live with it

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced today Sunday that his country has overcome the peak of the spread of the Corona virus in some provinces, calling on its people to coexist with it for a year or two, while today it recorded about 3 thousand infections and more than a hundred deaths.

Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting, "In some governorates, we passed the peak of the virus, and we started a descending path, but in other provinces we cannot confirm this now, and we have to wait until next Friday to determine the situation accurately."

The Iranian president added that the epidemic will not end in a week or a month, but may remain prevalent in a small percentage in society for a year or two, but the majority of society will become strong in front of it, and continued, "We have to live with it."

Rouhani called for transforming societal practices such as non-shaking hands and maintaining social estrangement into a "lifestyle".

Procedures
The Iranian President confirmed yesterday that his country will allocate 20% of its annual budget to fight the epidemic, adding, "The world may be surprised that this is issued by a country under sanctions."

Rouhani had assured the Iranians that the health system was strong and able to cope with any escalation in the disease, and promised that government health care would pay 90% of the treatment costs to patients.

Iran is one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic in the world. In the latest statistics issued by the Ministry of Health today, Sunday, 2901 new infections were recorded, bringing the total number of cases to 38,309, and today it recorded 123 deaths, bringing the total to 2,640 deaths.

To curb the spread of the disease, the authorities have tightened their procedures since last Thursday, and banned travel between cities across the country until April 8, after weeks of demanding that residents stay in their homes "as possible".

As the country entered the second week of the school holiday period on the occasion of the Iranian New Year, the authorities said that most civil servants were working from their homes, as well as closed major religious visit sites and suspended Friday prayers in mosques.