TEHRAN – The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) will launch a program this week aiming to take strict measures for curbing coronavirus across border areas of the country.

With the cooperation of ministries of health and transport, this plan will be implemented with the goal of rapidly identifying and testing incoming passengers and keeping them in quarantine facilities, if necessary, IRIB quoted IRCS head Karim Hemmati as saying on Tuesday.

Thirty border checkpoints have been selected, including 18 land borders, nine air borders, and three sea borders, he said, adding that all incoming passengers will be tested and referred to the quarantine facilities in case of necessity.

He went on to say that some 5,000 members of the IRCS will cooperate for carrying out the plan, noting that around 8,000 individuals enter the country via borders on a daily basis.

In February, Khuzestan province’s governor general said Iraqi nationals visiting Iran have worsened the coronavirus pandemic in the southwestern province.
More than 300 Iraqi nationals cross Chazzabeh and Shalamcheh borders per day, Qassem Soleimani-Dashtaki said, adding that the issue has contributed to a rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, restrictions aimed at slowing a surge in coronavirus cases have been set for four provinces, which have recently been designated as high-risk “red zones”.

“Travel to and from Khuzestan province is completely restricted and it is not possible to travel to or leave Khuzestan,” the deputy traffic police chief, Seyyed Teymour Hosseini, said.

“Moreover, it is not possible to travel to the three northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan due to the corona situation [there] and the decisions are taken to prevent the spread of the virus.”

He added that travels to and from the cities of Mashhad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas, Kish, and Qeshm have been limited until further notice.

MG