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Coronavirus resurging in Iran hotspots amid partial reopening

At least three Iranian provinces are experiencing a resurgence of the coronavirus after the government partially relaxed lockdown measures.
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"We are playing a chess game with the coronavirus,” said Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki, speaking on the complications Iran is facing in its ongoing fight against the virus. According to an updated government report, at least three of the 31 Iranian provinces — among them Qom, which served as the initial epicenter — are currently grappling with a resurgence of the pandemic.

Despite relentless caution from medical workers closely battling the virus in Iranians hospitals, the government of President Hassan Rouhani is pressing ahead with a plan to reopen specified sectors of the economy, which are deemed to be of less vulnerability in the face of the disease. The project has seen public transport, albeit with strict protocols, resume normal activity. Pictures of overcrowded buses and metro wagons prompted the head of a government committee tasked with fighting the virus in the capital city of Tehran to warn that it will only be a matter of days before the megacity is rocked by an exponential infection growth.

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