Coronavirus in Iran: Death toll reaches triple digits again, 19 provinces on alert
On Thursday, July 9, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health announced that the official number of virus victims in the country in the past 24 hours was 221. Including this figure, the coronavirus has killed 12,305 people so far.
In the six months since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the world and Iran, this is the highest official number of victims in the country, a point that the ministry spokesman also pointed out.
This is despite the fact that these official statistics are questioned even by many Islamic Republic officials, who say that the actual number of infected and dead is much higher.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on Wednesday that "many" people did not take the recommendations of the authorities seriously and that a "new wave" had hit our "very important and bordering" provinces.
He considered the increase in the number of infections and deaths in Iran "retribution" for taking the coronavirus as a joke.
On Thursday, in addition to announcing the number of 221 victims, Sima Sadat Lari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, announced that "2,079 new patients with Covid-19 were identified in the country, of which 995 were hospitalized."
Thus, according to Ms. Lari, "the total number of Covid-19 patients in the country reached 250,458 and... the total number of deaths from the disease reached 12,305."
He continued: "At the same time, 3,324 patients with Covid-19 are under care in severe condition."
He said: "Like in the past days, the provinces of Khuzestan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan, and Khorasan Razavi are in red status, and... the provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Alborz, Kerman, Yazd, Sistan and Baluchestan, Hamedan, and Ardabil are in alert status."
The number of victims and infected with the coronavirus in Iran is increasing while some experts still believe that the second wave has not yet begun in Iran and that the Iranian people have not even left the first wave behind.
Meanwhile, the official IRNA news agency announced on Thursday the "ten-day closure of all sports complexes and activities of the Tehran Municipality."
Alireza Zali, commander of the Corona Response Headquarters in Tehran, said on Wednesday at the economic meeting of the Corona Response Headquarters in Tehran Province: "Non-passive and strict restrictions should be reimposed, even in a short period of time," with the aim of "giving temporary rest to healthcare staff."
Source: Radio Farda
