Lawmakers in Iran's parliament without masks.
As another Covid-19 wave hit Iran in January, reports say that over 30 members of parliament have contracted the coronavirus and up to ten are hospitalized.
MP Abolfazl Aboutorabi said on Sunday that about 30 lawmakers have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past few days.
He said the parliament’s presidium has asked all the lawmakers to get tested for Covid-19 to help curb the spread of the virus.
Alireza Salimi, a member of the presidium, said 10 lawmakers have been hospitalized with complications, while another MP has said that paqrliament members attended the Saturday session although they were tested positive for the virus.
Iran's Health Minister Bahram Einollahi announced the start of the sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the country on Thursday as hospitals report increasing number of referrals related to the highly infectious Omicron variant.
“Unfortunately, we should declare that we have practically stepped into the sixth wave with the rise in hospitalization and outpatient cases,” Einollahi said, urging people to get booster shots.
Epidemiologists say the number of patients will increase fivefold each week, with the number of daily fatalities also rising.
Alireza Zali, the head of Tehran's Covid-19 taskforce, has said the Omicron variant is 64 percent more contagious than the Delta mutation, noting that tests are often unable to detect Omicron because of its similarity to common cold.