Iran reports its first 2 cases of the new coronavirus

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian authorities confirmed on Wednesday two cases of the new coronavirus, the first in the country, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

The report did not elaborate on the nationality of the two people infected. ISNA quoted an official in the country’s health ministry, Kiyanoush Jahanpour, as saying that “since last two days, some suspected cases of the new coronavirus were found.”

Jahanpour did not say how many people were suspected of having the virus, which causes the illness that the World Health Organization recently named COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.

He said the two confirmed cases were detected in the central province of Qom.



In this Feb. 18, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers go door to door to check the temperature of residents during a health screening campaign in the Qingheju Community, Qingshan District of Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. Protective suit-clad inspectors in the epicenter of China's viral outbreak went door-to-door to find every infected person in the central city suffering most from an epidemic that is showing signs of waning as new cases fell for a second day. (Cheng Min/Xinhua via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/c4d12a3d3061f3557ac2b959bca5716d

[jcmaine72]

1. Jeez! If the virus can spread to a relatively closed society like Iran...

...what chance does the rest of the world have at keeping this horror at bay?

[Blues Heron]

2. closed society?

where do you get that?

[jcmaine72]

3. From Human Rights Watch.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/06/11/iranian-society-more-closed-ever

And remember, I wrote "relatively closed" (As compared to Western, Far East and many other Asian nations). That doesn't mean closed off entirely.

[Blues Heron]

6. your link is about a crackdown on activists and dissidents in 2010

How does that have anything to do with people traveling in and out of the country?

[jcmaine72]

8. So, strict religious societies that crack down on dissidents are open societies?

Look, this is a silly thing to argue about. I merely registered surprise that the virus spread to Iran. If you want to split microscopic pubic hairs over my reaction to that news then you'll now do so alone.

Have a nice day.

[Blues Heron]

9. I'm tired of the ignorance re. Iran

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. They might be somewhat closed to western countries due to sanctions, ...

... but they're probably doing a bit of business with China, so technicians and trainees might go back and forth.

If a vaccine is developed, there might be some challenge getting it widely used in Iran, Pakistan, etc. They tend to not trust us.

[jcmaine72]

5. That would be awful.

Should that happen, hopefully someone sane will be in the WH by then to convince them otherwise.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

10. International aid agencies have run into resistance in the area ...

... just trying to administer polio vaccines. And those have been around for almost 70 years.

We were "this close" to eradicating polio from the earth, if not for a few religious/cultural psychos.

[jcmaine72]

11. You should mention that to the poster above, who has seemingly taken offense

at any suggestion that Iran may not be a bastion of openness.

[dalton99a]

7. There is travel between the two countries. China is investing $400 billion in Iran:

Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Zarif paid a visit to his Chinese counterpart Wang Li at the end of August to present a road map for the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, signed in 2016.

The updated agreement echoes many of the points contained in previous China-Iran accords, and already in the public domain. However, many of the key specifics of this new understanding will not be released to the public, despite representing a potentially material shift to the global balance of the oil and gas sector, according to a senior source closely connected to Iran's petroleum ministry who spoke exclusively to Petroleum Economist in late August.

The central pillar of the new deal is that China will invest $280bn developing Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals sectors. This amount may be front-loaded into the first five-year period of the deal but the understanding is that further amounts will be available in every subsequent five-year period, subject to both parties' agreement.

There will be another $120bn investment in upgrading Iran's transport and manufacturing infrastructure, which again can be front-loaded into the first five-year period and added to in each subsequent period should both parties agree.