But public opinion polling and a walk through any of the streets of Tehran show the widespread apathy felt over a pandemic that saw Iran in February among the first countries struck after China. Whether rooted in fatigue, dismissal or fatalism, that indifference has scared Iranian public health officials into issuing increasingly dire warnings.
“Let me first thank our great people,” a health worker in a hazmat suit in a hospital corridor sarcastically bellows in one dark state TV spot. “You hand in hand with the coronavirus defeated us!”
The new rules mark a turning point for Iran, which has struggled in trying to balance provincial lockdowns to stop the virus’s spread with the fears of stalling out an economy already struggling under U.S. sanctions after America’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Religious considerations also played a role in this Shiite theocracy as authorities declined for weeks to close shrines where the faithful touch or kiss the tombs’ protective bars.
For a moment, it appeared the restrictions and public fear had worked, as reported new cases and deaths from the virus dropped to their lowest levels in May. But new cases soon rose again, with officials initially saying better testing causes the numbers to spike even as they lifted restrictions to boost economic activity.
By mid-June, daily death tolls again routinely rose to triple digits. On Sunday, Iran saw its highest single-day reported death toll of the pandemic with 163 killed.