Appreciating the cooperation and support of the people in advancing the programmes to combat coronavirus in the country, the President said, "With the implementation of programmes and measures taken in November and December, today we see that the disease in most provinces, except for a few cases, has declined and only 12 cities are in the red status, which we hope will change with the efforts of the governor generals and the presidents of the medical universities and all those dear ones who are working in this field”.
Speaking on Saturday at the meeting of the National Task Force Against Coronavirus, Dr Hassan Rouhani stated that all these achievements are because of people’s responsibility and confidence in the decisions of the National Task Force Against Coronavirus, and said, "Many wanted to disrupt this by spreading frustration, disappointment and doubt among people, but they did not succeed”.
Emphasising the need for everyone to pay attention to the danger of not taking COVID-19 seriously, Dr Rouhani said, "A very important issue that should always be emphasised by the media and the IRIB is the danger of not taking the disease seriously. Whenever we feel that the problem is over and there is no problem or danger and we have put coronavirus behind us, immediately in the following weeks, we see another peak of the disease and after that, the death rate starts to increase”.
"However, coronavirus has affected not only health but also the economy, culture, people's lives and social issues, and everyone should help to control the disease," he said.
Stating that thank God, COVID-19 has never been denied in Iran, and from the first day we accepted it and acted immediately and timely, Dr Rouhani added, "Despite in some countries like the United States, where its president was claiming for weeks that there was nothing to worry about, in Iran as soon as the Minister of Health announced in the cabinet session on Wednesday, February 19, and we found out about the situation, I told him to inform the people immediately, even though it was almost the night before elections”.
The President said that the denial of the existence and spread of coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic caused great damages to some countries, adding, “This denial in itself was the biggest hurdle to addressing the disease in a timely manner, but immediately after identifying the first cases, despite the fact that we were approaching the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections, the Islamic Republic of Iran officially announced the issue and formed the National Task Force Against Coronavirus very quickly with the approval of the Supreme Leader to prevent inconsistencies in the policies of fighting the disease, and brought all the management and executive power to the scene”.
Dr Rouhani added, "Political and social trust in the Islamic Republic of Iran was well maintained and the people did not hesitate to cooperate and follow the recommendations of the National Task Force Against Coronavirus and follow the health protocols".
The President thanked the efforts of the medical staff, manufacturers, and especially those active in production companies, the Armed Forces, and all those who have been in the field of fighting COVID-19 for the past 10 months, and called for stricter adherence to health protocols in centres such as barracks and garrisons, where inevitably more people gather in”.
Dr Rouhani emphasised, "We should all know that following only one of the health instructions such as using masks, observing physical distance or washing hands alone is not enough and we should follow all the health protocols altogether, especially in the upcoming season which is the cold season and people naturally most of the time spend time in closed spaces”.
Dr Rouhani stated, "With the efforts of the country's medical staff and other people working in the field of fighting coronavirus, fortunately, the infection and death rates of COVID-19 have decreased and people should continue to take all health instructions seriously, so that God forbid, we do not waste all the efforts of the medical staff because of a one-hour gathering on Yalda Night”.