Harirchi: The entire country is in a red zone due to Corona

Iran's Deputy Health Minister warned of an increase in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths across the country.

Iraj Harirchi said in an interview with Iran Television on Thursday, September 17: "We no longer have green, red, yellow, and orange; we consider the entire country red and on alert."

Iran has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the Middle East. According to official statistics from the Islamic Republic, more than 413,000 people have been confirmed to have contracted the virus in the country, and 23,808 people have died from the disease.

However, this statistic has raised doubts among some experts, who believe that the number of victims may be higher.

Regarding the new waves of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Mr. Harirchi said: "We are facing multiple waves, a turbulent sea. We are a country that has been experiencing the deaths of more than 100 people daily for several months."

Sima Lari, a spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health, also announced on Thursday that 176 more patients with coronavirus had died in the past 24 hours. During the same period, 2,815 more patients with the virus have been identified.

Of the 2,815 patients identified in the past 24 hours, 1,628 have been hospitalized in hospitals across the country.

Mr. Harirchi says that if there is no reduction in traffic and physical contact, as well as an increase in the use of masks, the total number of coronavirus victims in the country will reach 45,000, which means more than 200 deaths per day.

He stated that if mask use reaches 95% and traffic is halved, the number of deaths will decrease.

Mr. Harirchi also said that instead of "pursuing and demanding, discussing and making unnecessary claims" about medicine and vaccines, Iranian citizens should spend their time on how to encourage themselves, their families, and society to comply with the guidelines to combat the coronavirus as much as possible.

The Deputy Minister of Health added: "The coronavirus has no ideology. Any social contact that is not in accordance with the instructions can be dangerous."

The issuance of permits for mourning during the month of Muharram, along with the reopening of schools, has sparked a wave of concerns about the further spread of the coronavirus in Iran.

Mr. Haririchi continued his speech by stating that the number of students in the country is 14.5 million, and the number of teachers is 1.2 million, and said that, including service staff, drivers, and parents, these people make up about one-fifth of the population, and if the guidelines are not followed, students could be a significant source of transmission of the virus at the community level.

The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health has also said that cases of infection and hospitalization have increased in most provinces of the country, and this week, the number of counties with red status has increased from 88 to 109 counties, and the number of counties with warning status has increased from 90 to 108 counties.

Iranian Ministry of Health officials announce the number of infected and dead people on a daily basis, despite doubts from independent sources about the accuracy of government statistics on the coronavirus.

Iranian government officials refuse to provide accurate, disaggregated, and specific statistics on patients and deaths, whether at the general public level in different provinces and cities, or at the level of medical staff.

Source: Radio Farda