Right before the beautiful spring of Iran, when everything was getting ready for the Persian New Year or Nowruz, the pandemic of coronavirus in Iran changed everything. This year, nothing was like a perfect Persian new year in which everyone is happy and blessed because of the fascinating nature as well as being around family and friends. In this worrisome time, most Iranians try to keep their spirits up and continue their routine life while following the necessary precautions. Although Iranians missed experiencing the new year this year, there are some rays of hope for days to come, since they celebrated Nowruz at their homes while being in quarantine.
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What Is Coronavirus?
According to the World Health Organization or WHO, coronavirus is a newly discovered virus called COVID-19; that is the reason for our global problem. The scientists could not exactly find the main origin of coronavirus; however, they claim that COVID-19 has an animal origin.
Although the highly contagious nature of coronavirus is dangerous, most of the healthy people who get infected by this disease will not need any special treatment. The group of people that have their life at risk if they get infected are elderlies or those who are suffering from diabetes, heart problems, cancer, and generally people with weak immune systems.
Today, coronavirus is worldwide and has made people concerned, but how did COVID-19 start in Iran?
Coronavirus in Iran
About three months ago, China was almost the only country suffering from the coronavirus. However, due to the close political and economic relationship between China and Iran, this virus found its way to Iran. The first coronavirus case in Iran was officially confirmed on February 19th, 2020 in Qom, which is a city near the capital of Iran, Tehran, and spread all over the country. After China, which is the origin of COVID-19, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore, Iran was the fifth country that had shown a large number of sufferers. Then everyone faced a new outbreak of this disease in Iran, Italy, and other countries.
But what is going on in Iran during this challenging time?
How Are Iranians’ Lives Changed During Quarantine?
Persian culture is famous for its intimacy and passion for people. In Iranians’ social relationships, you can see how people are involved in each others’ lives. Families and friends are the centers of communication, and people gather around every week to spend time with one another. Also, Iranian culture is full of physical contact like hugging and kissing. Therefore, being in quarantine is twice difficult for Persian people. Having no physical contact with others might be hard for people and can affect public health, so it may lead to the depression of the whole society.
Iran, which already had a difficult time because of the sanctions and its economy was suffering severely, the pandemic of coronavirus made it even worse. Many people are getting fired from their jobs every day. Many companies are facing bankruptcy, and many shopping centers and stores are getting closed as well.
There are no active theater halls, cinemas, and art galleries anymore to show the beauty of being human to people. More importantly, today, some Iranians are struggling to maintain their subsistence. Living during “the coronavirus time” can be a self-practice in order to adapt to this new situation.
The Last Update of Coronavirus in Iran
After almost three months from confirming the first case of coronavirus in Iran, today, if we look at the statistics, Iran has more than 85,000 cases of infected people and more than 5000 confirmed deaths. Although the number of survivors from coronavirus in Iran is more than 60 thousand, the number of dead people is still high.
On March 4th, the research on coronavirus cure started in Iran. Although there is some progress, there is no major breakthrough in curing this pandemic virus.
Now, it all depends on people to take good care of themselves in order to prevent coronavirus. Staying home and minimizing the time of being exposed to public places can be an effective way to stop the infection.
Has the Quarantine Ended in Iran?
In late February, schools were closed in Iran, and by starting Nowruz and spring break, almost all the public places in Iran were closed as well. However, after the spring break and Nowruz holidays, the economic situation of Iranians does not allow them to stay home in quarantine. Today, most of the companies, institutes, and offices except for the schools and universities are back to normal. Some of the private institutes have changed their working system to remote working and asked their employees to work online.
Since many people are using public transportation to get to work now, scientists are expecting the second wave of coronavirus in Iran.
Now that there is no definite prediction for until when the coronavirus will stay with us, the most important thing is to remain happy physically and mentally.
What Do Iranians Do to Help Each Other During The Coronavirus Pandemic?
History has shown the sympathy and kindness of Iranians for other people. Iran has always experienced many difficulties during history. Therefore, they have learned how to cope with problems and disasters. One of the nice gestures of Iranian people was their donations to hospitals for supplying equipment such as medical masks.
Also, some actors/actresses and musicians used their social media accounts as their new platform for showing their art. Online concerts and screenplay readings provided a heartwarming time for art lovers.
Many concerned young people tried to produce entertaining and educational online programs for children to make them forget the dreadful world of adults and stay happy.
Although this challenging and stressful situation is scary for Iranians as well as everyone else in this world and we are destined to live with it, nothing more than sharing our knowledge and abilities with others and caring about them can save us. We should realize that race and color do not matter anymore, and we are all in this together.
Ali Habibi