Iran to resume low-risk economic activities amid COVID-19 crisis

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says two-thirds of government employees to return to their offices from April 11.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said "low-risk" economic activities will resume from April 11 amid a global coronavirus pandemic in the worst-affected Middle Eastern country.

"Under the supervision of the health ministry, all those low-risk economic activities will resume from Saturday," Rouhani said in a televised meeting on Sunday, adding that "those activities will resume in the capital, Tehran, from April 18".

Iran has been struggling to curb the spread of the highly infectious COVID-19 disease, but authorities are also concerned that measures to limit public life to contain the virus could wreck an already sanctions-battered economy.

"Two-thirds of all Iranian government employees will work out of the office from Saturday ... The decision does not contradict stay-at-home advice by the health authorities," Rouhani said.

The Iranian leader did not spell out what he meant by low-risk activities, but said the suspension of "high-risk activities" - schools, universities and various social, cultural, sports and religious events - would be extended to April 18.

Second coronavirus wave feared

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi said health experts have warned that normalising the situation too soon could bring on a second wave of the pandemic in the country.

Ref: Aljazeera