President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that 35 million Iranians may contract the coronavirus in the coming months, stressing however, that Iran will successfully deal with the viral disease.

“Our estimate is that up to now, 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus,” Rouhani said during a televised meeting of the country’s virus-fighting taskforce.

“We have to consider the possibility that 30 to 35 million more may face infection,” he added, citing the results of a study by the health ministry.

“We have not yet achieved herd immunity and we have no choice but to be united and break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus.”

Rouhani stressed the need for strict compliance with the health protocols to cut off the chain of contagion.

Of every 1,000 people infected with the coronavirus, 500 show no symptoms, 350 ones have mild symptoms without the need for hospital admission, while 150 others need to be hospitalized, the Iranian president added.

He noted that the coronavirus cases displaying no symptoms are the most dangerous group in terms of spreading the disease.

Rouhani further underlined that people should not be made nervous about the pandemic, saying although defeating the disease may be a time-consuming and difficult process, Iran will definitely emerge victorious and overcome the challenge.

Source: Iranian media and AFP