`I see that people in Qom are not very afraid of the epidemic, they are still very subjective,` Nguyen Minh Tri, a person living in the city of Qom, northern Iran, told VnExpress about people’s response to Covid-19.
Qom is one of two major Covid-19 outbreaks in Iran, along with the capital Tehran.
Iran is the country with the fourth highest number of nCoV infections in the world, after China, South Korea, and Italy, with more than 5,800 cases, of which 145 people have died.
Nguyen Minh Tri in Qom, Iran.
Tri said the Iranian government advised people to limit going out because of the high level of the outbreak, but many people still maintained normal entertainment activities such as walking around, eating at restaurants, etc.
`A few times when I went to markets and supermarkets, I heard some Iranians tell each other that they are healthy and have high resistance, so there is no need to worry about nCoV. That makes me very confused,` Tri said.
Sharing his questions with some Iranian teachers and classmates, Tri also received sympathy.
When the new epidemic appeared in Qom in mid-February, Tri was quite frightened because the number of deaths increased rapidly, from a few people to several dozen in a day.
Since mid-February, Tri left the dormitory at Al Mustafa University when the school was closed to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
At his house, Tri focuses on studying, because he still has three more years to complete the program.
Tri said some Iranians bought food to stock up during the outbreak, but this is not a common situation.
Tehran residents lined up to receive disinfectant from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards on March 5.
All flights from Iran to Vietnam are currently delayed, so Tri regularly contacts his parents living in Ho Chi Minh City to update information and to say that he is seriously taking measures to protect himself.
Tri believes that Iran’s Covid-19 prevention campaign is not at the right level, the mass media has not propagated the dangers of the epidemic as well as prevention measures on a scale like other countries.
There are only two Vietnamese grandchildren in Qom, Tri regularly contacts the representative of the Vietnamese embassy in Iran to update information.
Covid-19 originated in Wuhan in December 2019, and has now appeared in 103 countries and territories, infecting more than 106,000 people, of whom at least 3,600 have died.
Many Iranian officials have died from nCoV, including diplomat Hossein Sheikholeslam, 68, and Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, a member of the supreme spiritual leader’s advisory council.
Vietnamese-English