Exponential Increase in Official COVID-19 Statistics in Iran; Full Presence of Government Staff “Remains Mandatory”
While the official figure on Tuesday showed 35,000 COVID-19 cases in Iran, Wednesday’s statistics for the 13th of Bahman indicate that 38,160 Iranian citizens contracted the virus in the past 24 hours.
The official death toll from COVID-19 on Wednesday was announced as 59 people, showing an increasing trend compared to 50 deaths the previous day.
Official COVID-19 statistics continue to be released daily by Iran’s Ministry of Health, even as officials from the Medical System Organization have previously stated that the actual figures are several times higher than the reported numbers.
Ebrahim Qaderi, head of the surveillance department at the Communicable Diseases Management Center of Iran’s Ministry of Health, stated on Tuesday, the 12th of Bahman, that the number of patients currently contracting COVID-19 but “not being reported is more than five times the number currently being diagnosed.”
Based on this Health Ministry official’s statement, the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the 24-hour period of Wednesday should be estimated at least at 190,000 people.
Meanwhile, Taghi Riahi, director of Tehran’s Rasoul Akram Hospital, noting that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has increased, stated that in early December of this year, “after two years, ICU wards for COVID-19 patients were closed,” but with the rising number of critically ill patients, these wards have been reopened.
The ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday that despite the warnings issued, no specific restrictions have yet been implemented, particularly regarding employee presence to control the current situation.
The report continues: “This is while inquiries with some organizations show that recently, given the rapid spread of Omicron, employee infections have been significant, but organizations have yet to resort to remote work and full presence remains mandatory. The reason organizations have not implemented remote work is the absence of official notification from the government or relevant authorities.”
Other reports also indicate that schools in Iran have finally become non-in-person, “but only partially.”
ISNA reports that Tehran’s governor announced that primary schools would be non-in-person for at least one week and kindergartens would be closed for one week in the province, but first and second grades of secondary school remain operating in person.
Currently in Iran, 42 cities are in red status, 142 cities in orange status, 230 cities in yellow status, and 34 cities in blue status, with officials speaking of “the continuation of the upward trend in COVID-19 cases in the sixth wave” and Iran being “in the stage of exponential epidemic.”
In a highly classified document published exclusively by Radio Farda on the 12th of Bahman, 1400 (February 1, 2022), an official named “Mohammadi” from the Social Affairs Deputy of the Sepah Intelligence Organization mentioned in one of the recent meetings the issue of coronavirus vaccine administration in the country, stating: “About seven thousand coronavirus vaccination stations were launched where health network personnel were forced to work overtime for vaccination, but this overtime work has not been paid, which could lead to the third dose vaccination facing civil disobedience.”
Source: Radio Farda
