Health Ministry: Coronavirus Outbreak Likely to Continue Until June 2020

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

Among the provinces affected by coronavirus contamination, Qom and Gilan currently hold the records. In its latest report, the Health Ministry announced an increase in deaths to 66 people and the number of infected to 1,501 people across the country.

The Deputy Minister of Treatment at the Health Ministry announced on Monday, March 2, that the entire country in the most optimistic scenario until the Persian New Year (March 20) and in the most pessimistic scenario until the end of May or even June of next year, may be dealing with the outbreak of coronavirus and related diseases.

ILNA news agency reported on Monday, citing Health Ministry officials, that among 7,280 people who referred to diagnostic centers and hospitals, 4,312 cases were suspected of coronavirus, and of this number, test results for 1,501 cases were positive. The number of recovered patients to date has been reported as 291 people.

Health Ministry officials and the government spokesman had said last Friday, following the fifth session of the national coronavirus control headquarters, that the coronavirus outbreak would become widespread across the country in the next two weeks.

Following these concerns, Saeed Namaki, the Health Minister, announced that 300,000 specialized teams will begin “door-to-door screening” and identification of suspected coronavirus cases across the country.

Mistrust in Statistics and Disregard for Warnings

One of the concerns of Health Ministry officials, for which no solution has been found so far, is convincing people to stay at home and avoid traveling to different cities, including northern cities. The World of Economics reported that by the end of the week, coronavirus cases in Iran would exceed 9,000 people. The greatest danger is reported to be from the transmission of this virus through travel.

Media outlets reported, citing Mahdi Shadnoosh, the coronavirus response commander in Gilan province, that with an increase in travel to Gilan province, cases of infection in this province have developed a “cyclical trend” which leads to widespread outbreak of this virus.

Shadnoosh criticized the negligence of travelers entering Gilan province, saying that despite all warnings to stay home, travel to Gilan province as “one of the contaminated centers of the country” continues.

The Health Ministry does not announce accurate and detailed statistics on the number of deaths across the country. According to health officials in Gilan province, five people have so far died from coronavirus infection in this province. Ghlamali Jafarzadeh Amin-Abadi, representative of Rasht in parliament, had said that the Health Ministry’s figures “resembled a joke.”

Referring to the fact that the situation in Rasht, the center of Gilan province, among other provinces, is “more critical than other affected areas,” he said that “all hospitals in Rasht are filled with patients suspected of coronavirus.”

Unsanitary Burials of Deaths in Villages

Setting up field hospitals is one of the issues that, according to this parliament member, some have opposed. The reason for this opposition is still unclear. “Unsanitary burial of people who died from coronavirus disease” is another matter that, according to the claim of the Gilan parliament representative, has occurred in villages of this province.

Mr. Jafarzadeh Amin-Abadi, without mentioning figures, said that based on “reports received from village elders and members of village councils,” a number of people living in Gilan villages died with symptoms similar to coronavirus and were buried without their cause of death being recorded. The Health Ministry and health officials in Gilan province have not yet reacted to these statements by the parliament representative.

The head of the coronavirus control headquarters in Gilan today announced the allocation of some Rasht hospitals to the infected and the preparation of laboratories for diagnosing cases suspected of coronavirus. He also said that military forces and municipal employees have begun disinfection measures in Rasht and other cities in Gilan; a matter that, according to Jafarzadeh Amin-Abadi, occurred “belatedly and almost 10 days after hundreds of citizens became infected with this virus.”

Readiness for Establishing Field Hospitals

The entry of the army into the coronavirus control efforts has been reported in other provinces as well as in Rasht. ILNA reported, citing Behzad Mozni, head of the health, treatment and relief department of the Land Force, that two army hospitals in Tehran have been put at the disposal of the Health Ministry and in other provinces, hospitals and medical facilities of this force have been allocated to the infected and their treatment.

ILNA also reported on Monday, citing Mozni, that given the concerning situation of coronavirus outbreak in Qom, the army is ready to establish a field hospital in this city but no “formal request” has yet been made to the army.

The Health Ministry had previously proposed the quarantine of Qom city, which faced opposition from some, including Ali Saidi, the custodian of the Fatima Masumeh Shrine and Supreme Leader’s representative in Qom province.

Amid the struggle with coronavirus infection in Qom and Health Ministry warnings to avoid crowded places, Saidi had said “we consider this holy shrine a healing place. A healing place means people come and be cured of spiritual and physical ailments. Therefore, it must be open.”

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

School Closures and Remote Work for Employees

The continuation of this concerning situation has so far 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 also a possibility that schools will be closed until the end of March.

Employees of some organizations and institutions such as the Tehran Municipality are also experiencing remote work. However, according to the deputy of planning, urban development and city council affairs of Tehran Municipality, service workers of the municipality are “devotedly” continuing their work.

Hamed Mozaherian, regarding preventive measures against coronavirus infection among Tehran Municipality service workers, in an interview with ILNA, first pointed to the shortage of gloves, masks, and disinfectants and said that these workers have been trained and are prepared to prevent coronavirus infection.

Two-Month Postponement of Military Service Conscripts

The coronavirus outbreak has caused, according to Hassan Araghizadeh, deputy of health and treatment of the general staff of the armed forces, the dispatch of military service conscripts to be postponed for two months. Accordingly, the deployment time of conscripts to undergo military training courses has been postponed until May 21, 2020. However, those who have only a few days left to complete their training courses must remain in barracks until the end of their training.

Military commanders have assured families that all soldiers and personnel present in military centers and training barracks are healthy and there have been no cases of coronavirus infection.

Daily Production of 200,000 Masks

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, people and hospital staff and medical personnel have complained about mask shortages. Surena Sattari, the Vice President for Science and Technology, said in this regard that the capacity for producing N95 and N99 masks has now reached 200,000 units per day and knowledge-based companies have increased their production lines.

He also, by claiming that the country has reached “mass production” of masks, added that daily mask production is likely to reach 300,000 units by the end of this week.

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

Officials in Iran had previously emphasized full readiness to combat the coronavirus. Namaki, the Health Minister, had recently said that Iran is among “the leading countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the first in the world in the prevention and fight against the coronavirus outbreak.”

Need for Blood

In the view of many people, Iranian officials are accused of cover-up in transparent information dissemination. Families, by publishing images and videos of their city and residential areas, criticize the government for not being honest with them, and this has caused warnings from the Health Ministry or the needs of some organizations such as the blood transfusion organization to not be taken very seriously.

The blood transfusion organization recently asked people not to forget blood donation for special and thalassemia patients in the midst of coronavirus concerns.

Source: DW