Iran warns of economic fallout from coronavirus as ‘low-risk’ shops reopen
As its death toll from the coronavirus hits 4,585, Iran — desperate to get the economy going — allows an assortment of shops to reopen and lifts its ban on travel between provinces.
Iran must fight both COVID-19 and economic sanctions, a government spokesman said Monday, as the country moved to reopen businesses struggling in the coronavirus-battered economy.
The government is concerned over both "the health and lives of the population from the coronavirus and its economic and social consequences,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei said during a televised news conference.
With 4,585 fatalities and more than 73,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, Iran is the epicenter of the outbreak in the region. A number of senior Iranian officials, including a member of Iran’s council of experts, are among the dead.
Despite the rising death toll, Iran lifted its ban on travel between provinces and allowed certain shops to reopen over the weekend. Restaurants, theaters, swimming pools, shopping malls and other “high-risk” facilities remain closed.
