Ekeomah Atuonwu
Schools and universities in Iran have reopened for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began more than two years ago.
Students and teachers in Iran were required to attend classes in person beginning on Sunday, which coincided with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Some schools and universities had previously experienced partial reopenings as COVID-19 peaks receded, but none had fully and consistently reconvened classes physically since the pandemic began in Iran in February 2020.
On Sunday, state television broadcast footage of crowded classrooms in several provinces across the country, with masked students sitting in rooms with open windows.
Buses were made free until 9 a.m. to encourage students to use public transportation. Students and teachers must be fully vaccinated in order to attend classes.
Students suffering from underlying conditions, those infected with coronavirus, and those exhibiting symptoms are now permitted to be absent from physical classrooms.
The Covid-19 cases as well as the daily death toll numbers have been declining from a sixth wave of the contagious disease.
The health ministry only reported 37 Covid deaths on Saturday and nearly 1,887 new cases of the infection.
So far, 63,935,082 people have received the first dose, 56,906,191 people have received the second dose, and 26,252,08 people have received the third dose of anti-Coronavirus vaccines, the ministry said on Saturday.
A total 147,093,281 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the country so far.
