Coronavirus in Iran: 81 Cities in Red and Orange Alert; ‘Fourth Wave Advancing’
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesperson announced on Tuesday that over ten thousand new coronavirus cases were identified, while stating that currently 81 cities across the country are in red and orange alert status.
According to the definition by the coronavirus task force, red alert or “very high risk” status is assigned when at least 10 people per 100,000 residents in a city are hospitalized due to coronavirus, while orange alert or “high risk” status is assigned when at least 6 people per 100,000 residents are hospitalized.
According to Sima Sadat Lari, “in the past 24 hours, 10,250 new COVID-19 patients were identified in the country, of which 1,039 were hospitalized.”
Accordingly, the official count of COVID-19 patients in the country reached 1,875,234 people.
Ms. Lari stated: “In the past 24 hours, 91 COVID-19 patients lost their lives and the total death toll from this disease reached 62,569.”
Iranian Health Ministry officials are currently providing daily statistics on coronavirus cases and deaths to the media without presenting detailed breakdown data, despite serious doubts about the accuracy of these figures. Iran’s Medical System Organization estimates the actual death toll to be three to four times higher than official figures.
Earlier, ISNA news agency reported from the Health Ministry that “the fourth wave of coronavirus is certain in many areas of western and central regions of the country and is advancing toward the eastern regions.”
Iran’s Health Ministry news channel identified holiday visits, wedding ceremonies, mourning gatherings, gatherings in restaurants, banquet halls and hotel restaurants, use of public transportation especially buses and trains, and declining levels of health precautions and mask usage as among the most important reasons for the new surge of coronavirus in the country.
Last week, many experts and even Iranian Health Ministry officials repeatedly warned about a renewed coronavirus surge, particularly due to the widespread prevalence of mutant virus strains in case of Nowruz holiday travels.
Nevertheless, the national coronavirus task force did not announce any special restrictions for Nowruz holiday travels, and many officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, limited their actions to recommending citizens to stay home and observe health protocols in case of Nowruz visits.
Source: Radio Farda
