In remarks at a Saturday session of the Coronavirus Fight National Headquarters, Rouhani stressed the need for rapid detection of COVID-19 cases in the efforts to contain the pandemic in Iran.
The president said he has ordered the allocation of $100 million to the purchase of foreign testing kits that diagnose coronavirus in at most 20 minutes.
The domestic production of such rapid test kits is also underway, he noted, saying a “major development” is going to take place in the COVID-19 testing process in the country with 10,000 additional daily tests.
The president also unveiled new health restrictions for tackling the pandemic, saying people without face masks in Tehran will have to pay a 500,000 rial fine to the Health Ministry.
In late September, Rouhani said the new strict health regulations would first come into force in the capital and will later apply to other big cities across Iran.
The daily death toll from coronavirus infection in Iran has exceeded 200 in recent days, while the total number of cases since the outbreak of the disease in the country has surpassed 490,000.
More than 28,000 COVID-19 patients have died in Iran since February.