The Iranian authorities have extended restrictions on public gatherings in the capital Tehran by one week, as the Covid-19 case tally in the country continues to rise.
Public gathering places in Tehran, which have been closed since the start of October, will now remain closed until at least 23 October, according to an announcement by the ministry of culture yesterday. These include among them schools, cinemas, libraries, theatres and mosques.
This comes just days after the government imposed a three-day inter city traffic ban prohibiting travel to or from Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, Isfahan and Urmia cities, which is due to end today. It is as yet unclear whether the ban could be extended.
Yet, despite the new restrictions, there have been renewed calls for the government to take even more severe measures. Mohsen Hashemi, the head of Tehran City Council, today said that Tehran province should be "completely shut down for at least two weeks" in an effort to move past the current circumstances."
Already the Mideast Gulf's region's worst hit country, Iran is now experiencing its third and most deadly wave of Covid-19 infections. Latest figures from the health ministry show that the daily average of new coronavirus cases in October so far has risen to 4,074, versus an average of 2,723 in September. Covid-19 has killed 30,123 people in Iran since the start of the outbreak in mid-February.
The extension of such measures will likely weigh on what has already been a fragile recovery in domestic transport fuel demand since the height of the restrictions back in April.
Latest available data show that gasoline consumption in Iran was at 410,000-440,000 b/d in early August, up significantly from around 313,000 b/d in April. But this was still down from around 475,000 b/d in December 2019.
