(Reuters) – Iran imposed a 10-day blockade on Saturday in most parts of the country to stop the spread of a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported.
The blockade affects 23 of the country’s 31 provinces, Health Ministry spokeswoman Alireza Raisi said. Businesses, schools, theaters and sports facilities have been forced to close, and gatherings are banned during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on Wednesday.
Coronavirus cases in Iran have exceeded 2 million, with a new daily average of more than 20,000 infections in the last week, according to the health ministry. It reported over 64,000 deaths.
“Unfortunately, today we have entered a fourth wave,” President Hassan Rouhani said in televised remarks. He blamed the increase primarily on the variant that first appeared in Britain, which spread to Iran earlier this year in neighboring Iraq.
Other factors included large-scale travel, weddings and celebrations during the Iranian New Year holidays that began on March 20, he said.
The UK variant is now predominant in the country, and 257 cities and towns are on red alert, Raisi said.
Iran was the epicenter of the pandemic in the Middle East. In February, it closed several checkpoints with Iraq in an effort to stop the spread of the British version.
The country’s vaccination effort has also been slow.
Tehran said it has received more than 400,000 2 million custom-made Sputnik V vaccines from Russia and expects to deliver 4.2 million AstraZeneca photos.
It also received 250,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China and part of an order for 500,000 doses of COVAXIN from India.
With a population of 83 million, Iran hopes to provide more than 2 million vaccines by March 20 to vaccinate mainly health workers. At least four local vaccine candidates are being developed, one in cooperation with Cuba, which is expected to reach production in a few months.