Ministry of Health: Coronavirus outbreak likely to continue until June 2020

The Ministry of Health is deploying 300,000 teams to conduct door-to-door screening and identify suspected cases of coronavirus across the country. According to officials, the crisis is likely to continue until the end of June 2020. The situation in Gilan is critical.

Among the provinces affected by the coronavirus, Qom and Gilan are currently the record-breaking provinces. In its latest report, the Ministry of Health announced that the number of deaths has increased to 66 and the number of infected people has reached 1,501 across the country.

The Deputy Minister of Health for Medical Affairs announced on Monday, March 2, that the entire country may be affected by the spread of the coronavirus and its resulting diseases, in the most optimistic case until Nowruz 2020, and in the most pessimistic case until the end of May or even June of next year.

ILNA news agency reported on Monday, citing Ministry of Health officials, that out of 7,280 people who visited diagnostic centers and hospitals, 4,312 were suspected of having the coronavirus, of which 1,501 tested positive. The number of people who have recovered to date has also been announced as 291.

Health Ministry officials and the government spokesperson said last Friday, after the fifth meeting of the National Task Force to Combat Coronavirus, that the spread of the coronavirus will be widespread throughout the country in the next two weeks.

Following these concerns, Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced that 300,000 specialized teams will be deployed to conduct "house-to-house screening" and identify suspected cases of coronavirus across the country.

Distrust of statistics and disregard for warnings

One of the concerns of the Ministry of Health officials, for which no solution has been found so far, is persuading people to stay at home and avoid traveling to various cities, including northern cities. Donya Egtdesad reported that by the end of the week, the number of people infected with the coronavirus in Iran will exceed 9,000. The greatest risk has been declared from the transmission of the virus through travel.

The media reported, quoting Mehdi Shadnoush, the commander of the fight against coronavirus in Gilan province, that with the increase in travel to Gilan province, cases of infection in this province have taken a "cyclical trend," leading to the widespread spread of the virus.

Shadnoosh, meanwhile, criticized the inattention of travelers entering Gilan province, saying that despite all the warnings to stay home, these trips to Gilan province, which is "one of the infected centers of the country," continue.

The Ministry of Health does not provide detailed, disaggregated statistics on the number of deaths nationwide. According to health officials in Gilan province, five people have died from the coronavirus in the province so far. Gholamali Jafarzadeh Aymanabadi, a Rasht MP, said the Ministry of Health statistics were “something like a joke.”

He pointed out that the situation in the city of Rasht, the capital of Gilan province, is "more critical than other affected areas" among other provinces, and said that "all hospitals in Rasht are full of suspected coronavirus patients."

Unsanitary burial of the deceased in villages

The establishment of a field hospital is one of the issues that, according to the MP, some have opposed. The reason for this opposition is not yet clear. “Unsanitary burial of people who died from the coronavirus” is another issue that, according to the MP from Gilan, has been carried out in the villages of this province.

Mr. Jafarzadeh Aymanabadi, without citing statistics, said that according to “reports received from village heads and members of the rural council,” a number of people living in villages in Gilan died with symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus and were buried without their cause of death being recorded. The Ministry of Health and health officials in Gilan province have not yet responded to the MP’s statements.

The head of the anti-coronavirus headquarters in Gilan announced today that a number of hospitals in Rasht have been allocated to patients and laboratories have been prepared to diagnose suspected cases of coronavirus. He also said that military forces and municipal employees have also taken action to carry out disinfection measures in Rasht and other cities in Gilan; an issue that, according to Jafarzadeh Aymanabadi, was done “lately, almost 10 days after hundreds of citizens were infected with the virus.”

Preparation for the construction of a field hospital

The army's involvement in the fight against coronavirus has been reported in other provinces besides Rasht. ILNA quoted Behzad Moazani, head of the Army Ground Forces' Health, Treatment and Relief Department, as saying that two army hospitals in Tehran have been placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Health, and in other provinces, hospitals and medical and treatment facilities of the force have been allocated to the infected and their treatment.

ILNA also wrote on Monday, quoting a muezzin, that given the worrying situation of the coronavirus outbreak in Qom, the army is ready to build a field hospital in the city, but that there has not yet been a "definite request" from the army.

The Ministry of Health had previously proposed quarantining the city of Qom, which was met with opposition from some, including Ali Saeedi, the custodian of the Masoumeh shrine, and Ali Khamenei's representative in Qom province.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak in Qom and the warnings from the Ministry of Health to avoid crowded places, Saeedi had said, "We consider this holy shrine a healing center. A healing center means that people can come and be healed from mental and physical illnesses. Therefore, it should be open here."

The city of Qom, as one of the centers of transmission and spread of the coronavirus in the country, was never placed under quarantine.

School closures and employee teleworking

The continuation of this worrying situation to this day has caused schools in a number of Iranian cities, including Tehran, Gilan, and Qom provinces, to remain closed until the end of the week. There is a possibility that schools will remain closed until the end of March.

Employees of a number of organizations and bodies, such as Tehran Municipality, are also experimenting with remote work. However, according to the deputy director of Planning, Urban Development and Council Affairs of Tehran Municipality, the municipal service personnel are working "dedicatedly."

In an interview with ILNA, Hamed Mazaherian first mentioned the shortage of gloves, masks, and disinfectants, and said that these employees are trained and prepared to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

2-month postponement of military service

The coronavirus outbreak has caused the dispatch of conscripts to be postponed by two months, according to Hassan Araghizadeh, Deputy Chief of Staff for Health and Medical Affairs of the Armed Forces. Thus, the dispatch of conscripts to complete training courses has been postponed until May 1, 2020. However, those who have only a few days left to complete their training courses must remain in the barracks until the end of the training course.

Armed Forces commanders have assured families that all soldiers and personnel present at military centers and training barracks are in good health and have not had any cases of coronavirus infection.

Daily production of 200,000 masks

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, people and hospital staff have complained about the shortage of masks. Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science, said that the production capacity of N95 and N99 masks has now reached 200,000 per day and that Danish-based companies have increased their production lines.

He also claimed that the country has reached "mass production" for mask production, adding that daily mask production is likely to reach 300,000 by the end of this week.

Recently, 100,000 masks were sent to Iran from China to address domestic shortages, and the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that it is still waiting to receive this aid.

Iranian officials have previously stressed their full preparedness to combat the coronavirus. Health Minister Namaki recently said that Iran is “one of the leading countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the first in the world” in preventing and combating the spread of the coronavirus.

Need for blood

Iranian officials are widely accused of hiding information. Families are posting pictures and videos of their cities and regions, criticizing the government for not being honest with them, which has led to warnings from the Ministry of Health or the needs of organizations like the Blood Transfusion Organization not being taken seriously.

The Blood Transfusion Organization recently asked people not to forget to donate blood for special patients and thalassemia amid concerns about the coronavirus.

Source: DW