President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that an increase in the number of tests will greatly help contain the disease.
“Increasing the number of tests to 100 thousand per day and tracking infected people and their relatives will be the most important step toward reducing fatalities, and I hope these measures will soon cut off the chain of infection,” he said.
The president further expressed gratitude to people and business owners for their cooperation to stem the spread of the disease.
“Despite sustaining economic and financial losses, business owners shut down their activities for the sake of people’s health during the time restrictions were enforced,” he said at a meeting of specialized committees of the National Coronavirus Headquarters.
In the meeting, the president instructed the committees to make every effort in order to keep the COVID-19 infection from surging again when restrictions end.
Elsewhere in his remarks, President Rouhani appreciated efforts to develop a vaccine for coronavirus and purchase vaccines from other countries.
“Incontrovertibly, given the scientific and technological capabilities in the country, Iran will be able to produce a vaccine in the country with reliance on its scientists,” he noted.
“Given that the necessary infrastructure has been provided, Iran will be able to mass-produce the vaccine in the country as well,” he said.