COVID-19 in Iran: ’64 Ahvaz Firefighters Infected and One Died’

The Fire Department Organization of Ahvaz Municipality has confirmed that at least 64 personnel of this organization have contracted the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and one firefighter has also lost his life.

On Sunday, after two months, the official daily death toll in Iran exceeded one hundred people, while Islamic Republic officials say the situation in Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Razavi Khorasan and Bushehr provinces is critical.

ISNA news agency reported on the morning of June 16 that Ibrahim Qanbari, the head of Ahvaz Fire Department, said 12 of the infected personnel of this organization have recovered, four are hospitalized and the rest are quarantined at home.

This Ahvaz Municipality official also stated that the condition of four firefighters who are in the hospital is “not acute.”

According to the head of Ahvaz Fire Department Organization, the shortage of protective equipment has contributed to the upward trend of virus spread among firefighters.

Mr. Qanbari also recalled that firefighting personnel live in stations and the dormitory, beds, kitchen, and even some respiratory masks and their emergency and firefighting equipment are shared; therefore, one person’s infection poses a risk of infecting others.

Meanwhile, during the process of helping extinguish fires, they may also be placed in crowded areas and contract COVID-19.

The official number of Ahvazi firefighters infected with COVID-19 has increased at least 2.5 times over the past month.

Source: Radio Farda