TEHRAN – Coronavirus diagnostic tests being conducted daily in the country will reach up to 100,000 from currently 45,000, Saeed Namaki, the Minister of Health, has announced.

In this regard, the fourth step of the national mobilization campaign against COVID-19, which can cause a change in disease control, is piloted in Kermanshah province and will be gradually implemented throughout the country, he highlighted.

The focus of the project will be on early detection, quarantine of identified patients, support for patients during quarantine, proper screening of cases that have been in contact with the infected person, he explained.

The capacity of non-governmental organizations, charities, Basij, the Red Crescent Society, and the Ministry of Telecommunications, will be used to implement the plan, he said that through the plan, we will make each house a health base to fight against the virus. 

He went on to conclude that it is estimated that by focusing on public education and early detection of cases, the burden of the disease will reduce.

Earlier in October, Namaki announced that the number of daily tests reached from 25,000 to 40,000.

Some three million test kits are being imported to the country from South Korea, which takes between 20 and 25 minutes to identify the infection, he stated, adding, of course, this type of test is being produced domestically to perform 100,000 tests a day, which is the most successful method in early detection.

Namaki also has expressed hope that the country will introduce the home-grown COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2021).

COVID-19 cases surpass 703,000

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Health Ministry spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 10,339 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 703,288. She added that 530,694 patients have so far recovered, but 5,584 still remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, coronavirus daily deaths and new cases hit the record high, as 453 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 39,202, she added.
Lari noted that so far 5,302,200 COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country.

She said the high-risk “red” zones include provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, East Azarbaijan, South Khorasan, Semnan, Qazvin, Lorestan, Ardebil, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad, Gilan, Bushehr, Zanjan, Ilam, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Alborz, West Azarbaijan, Markazi, Kerman, North Khorasan, Hamedan, Yazd, and Kordestan.

The provinces of Hormozgan, Fars, and Golestan and Sistan-Baluchestan are also on alert.

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