Coronavirus statistics in Iran; Health Minister says he does not know the reason for the summer spike
With 139 more deaths from COVID-19, the official death toll in Iran has reached 20,264.
According to official statistics, the trend of coronavirus infections and deaths appears to be decreasing, however, Health Minister Saeed Namaki described the peak of the outbreak in the summer as contrary to the ministry's predictions.
Sima Sadat Lari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, announced on Thursday, August 20, that in the past 24 hours, 2,279 new patients with COVID-19 have been identified in Iran, of which 1,038 have been hospitalized.
He said: "The total number of Covid-19 patients in the country has reached 352,558."
The accuracy of official coronavirus statistics in Iran has been questioned by domestic experts and some officials, such as some city council members and members of parliament.
In another report, the Minister of Health announced today that the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in the summer was contrary to their predictions.
Saeed Namaki said: “We thought we would have a calmer summer and that we would have the difficult days of autumn at the same time as Covid-19 and the flu, and that we would have time for our colleagues to breathe in the summer, but it didn’t happen.”
He also said that "we will not say the reason for this now and I will leave it to the future to say."
Source: Radio Farda
