Corona in Iran; Three-Fold Discrepancy Between Death Toll Figures Reported by Health Ministry and Civil Registration Organization
New statistics from Iran’s Civil Registration Organization show that 131,294 people died in Iran during the summer of this year. This figure was around 94,441 people in the summer of 2019 and approximately 91,737 people in the summer of 2018.
Accordingly, the death toll in Iran during the summer of the current year compared to the same season in previous years has increased by approximately 37,000 to 40,000 people.
This is while, based on Health Ministry statistics, the total number of coronavirus deaths during the summer of the current year is estimated at 14,736 people.
Based on this, the increase in the death toll during the summer of this year compared to the summer of previous years is approximately three times the official coronavirus death figures for the same period.
Previously, some Iranian officials stated that coronavirus death statistics are significantly higher than the official figures announced by the Health Ministry.
MohammadReza Zafargandi, head of Iran’s Medical System Organization, also recently acknowledged that the death toll is “at least three times” the figures announced by the Health Ministry; a ratio that precisely aligns with the Civil Registration Organization’s statistics.
The official statistics of the Health Ministry have been a source of doubt and ambiguity since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and even reports have been published about the delayed announcement of coronavirus’s entry into Iran.
According to Nader Tavakoli, deputy director of treatment at the Tehran province coronavirus task force headquarters, the actual number of coronavirus cases in Iran is “much larger than the figure currently being presented as the number of cases.”
Civil registration statistics show that in the first half of this year, a total of 242,000 people died in Iran.
However, the death toll during the same period last year was reported at 186,000 people and two years ago at 182,000 people.
In the first half of this year, approximately 56,000 to 60,000 more people died compared to the corresponding period in previous years in Iran.
Health Ministry statistics show that in the first six months of 2020, fewer than 30,000 people died due to coronavirus infection.
The glaring discrepancy between official figures for coronavirus deaths and the overall increase in the country’s total deaths apparently is not unrelated to the significant increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Iran following the mourning ceremonies of Muharram; in just the past few days, the number of cases has reached over 8,000 people, which is approximately three times the first half of this year.
Also, the daily coronavirus death rate has peaked at over 400 people.
Source: Radio Farda
