Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has unveiled what it claims is new technology which will change the face of its response to the coronavirus crisis.
There’s just one problem – the “state of the art” Covid-19 detector bears a striking resemblance to fake bomb scanners that have plagued the Middle East and other parts of the world for years.
The country's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the device had been developed by Iranian scientists and had the ability to detect the novel coronavirus on people and on surfaces at a range of up to 100 meters.
The detector, IRGC commander Major General Hossein Salami claimed, can detect contamination with 80 per cent accuracy in five seconds by “creating a magnetic field”.
He was quoted describing the scanner as “amazing” and “state of the art”, though the exact relationship between the Covid-19 pathogen and magnets was not explained.
Media monitoring outlets and analysts quickly debunked the IRGC’s claims about the Covid-19 detector. They have said the device shown in the IRGC’s unveiling and being tested in an Iranian hospital clearly resembles a variety of fake detectors sold by British fraudsters in the last decade.
Those scanners later went on to be used in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. The devices, like the Iranian Covid-19 detector, all had a conspicuous silver antenna that swivelled on a handle and came in black padded casing.
Used to check for suicide bombers in Iraq, to search for drugs in central America and to detect smuggled ivory in Africa all of the devices were bogus and were sold at a huge financial and human cost.
Their purveyors James McCormick, Gary Bolton and Samuel and Joan Tree have all been jailed for selling the so-called “magic wands”.
The danger presented by the detectors in the era of coronavirus is clear. The IRGC claimed its device negates the need for blood tests to diagnose Covid-19 infections and will speed up the process of cleaning surfaces covered in the virus.
Tasnim has reported the device is to be used in widespread screening.
The appearance of the scanner has provoked splits among authorities in Iran. While the IRGC has doubled down on the device heralding it as a “scientific breakthrough”, Tehran’s ministry of health has said the scanner does not have its approval.
“Many of these efforts have been made, but the cases that have received final approval have been very few,” health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour said on Wednesday.
The Iranian government has been left scrambling to respond to the coronavirus outbreak which has struck down many of the country’s most senior officials.
The country has been the hit hardest in the region by the virus with its death toll reaching 4,869 on Thursday. The country also has nearly 78,000 confirmed cases.
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
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The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Understand What Black Is
The Last Poets
(Studio Rockers)
