Business as usual in Iran as malls, bazaars reopen amid coronavirus

Shopping malls and bazaars reopened in Iran on Monday despite warnings by some health officials that a new wave of coronavirus infections could ripple through the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic.

Iran has struggled to curb the spread of the highly contagious lung disease known as COVID-19 but authorities also worry that measures to limit public life to rein in the virus could finish off an already sanctions-battered economy.

Seeking a balance between protecting public health and shielding the economy, the government has refrained from wholesale lockdowns of cities like those imposed in many other countries, but has extended closures of schools and universities and banned cultural, religious and sports gatherings.

READ: Coronavirus death toll rises to 5,118 in Iran

Effective on Monday, President Hassan Rouhani’s government lifted a ban on inter-city travel and ended a closure of businesses judged to pose only a “medium risk” of spreading the coronavirus, across the country.

“Medium-risk businesses like shops in… bazaars or beside each other in buildings like shopping centres will be allowed to reopen while respecting health protocols,” Rouhani said on Sunday in a televised meeting of his coronavirus task force.

With that ban lifted, state television showed heavy commuter traffic resuming in the capital Tehran and other cities.

The return to bustling urban activity drew concern and criticism from some health experts, the head of Tehran’s coronavirus task force and the chairman of its city council.

“I am seriously concerned about what is happening … My fear is that people will not take the outbreak seriously,” a doctor at Tehran’s Rasulollah hospital told state TV.

“Everything depends on the degree to which people are respecting health protocols. People should not think that the situation has become normal again,” Mohammad Asayi, an adviser to the health minister, told state TV.

READ: ‘Iran’s real virus figures higher than official ones’

“Stay at home!” he said.

The protocols call for Iranians to maintain social-distancing, wear masks in public and wash their hands regularly, but are advisory only with no penalties for infractions.

Health inspectors will visit reopened shops at random to help ensure compliance with those measures, government officials told state media.