Iran's president estimated, on Saturday, that as many as 25 million of his people could have contracted the dreaded novel coronavirus from the start of the outbreak, and called on the public to take the disease very seriously, the government-run news agency IRNA reported.
In laying down the unprecedentedly worrying number of coronavirus infections, President Hassan Rouhani cited a recent report by the Iranian Health Ministry. Officials did not explain what the estimates for the report are based on and the study was not immediately made public.
Rouhani also said that he believes that in the coming months an additional 30 to 35 million people could be infected, again without citing the basis for his grim projection. The population of Iran comprises about 81 million people.
It seems to be the first time a top Iranian official has suggested the country is seeking to contain a pandemic 19 through herd immunity. The disease has claimed the lives of over 588,000 people and sickened almost 14 million globally since first being reported in China late in 2019.
The Islamic State has been fighting a resurgence of the virus, with numbers showing an increase in both new infections and fatalities since a two-month decline in May. On Saturday, health officials posted another 188 coronavirus mortalities and 2,166 infections in the last 24 hours.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the world struck yet another grim milestone on Saturday in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic as global deaths surpassed the 600,000 mark.
Of the 188 countries, the university monitored, only 17 have not yet confirmed death due to the virus. The United States has the largest number of deaths and is the only nation with over 100,000 fatalities recorded.
As of early June, reported cases of the virus have doubled around the world, according to university figures. If deaths - which sometimes lag behind cases for weeks - follow a similar pattern, the virus in the coming months may become one of the top 10 global causes of deaths.
Iran has seen the worst outbreak in the Middle East, with over 270,000 confirmed virus infections and at least 13,979 fatalities.
Rouhani's remarks show that doubts remain over the state's official data from the outbreak, even after health officials publicly acknowledged its significance.
Citing the Health Ministry's data, Rouhani said it also estimates that the number of hospitalizations will soon be "twice as many as we have seen in the last 150 days," Amir Vahdat of AP reported.
