How Corona Became Pandemic in Iran; Failure to Quarantine Qom or Gilan’s Negligence?

Qom is referred to as the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak in Iran. Many believe that if Qom had been quarantined, the coronavirus would not have infected Iran to this extent. Now some Iranian health officials are saying that Qom may not have been the only source of disease outbreak.

Alirezа Raisi, Deputy Minister of Health of Iran, provided explanations at a press conference with journalists regarding the latest findings of the Ministry of Health on the origin of coronavirus outbreak in Iran.

According to this official, “This disease was clearly and specifically in Qom in connection with Chinese nationals who were in this province; a number of Chinese workers who traveled in the month of Bahman (January-February) as well as a number of students who were in Qom”.

The Deputy Minister of Health, referring to the fact that “Initially it was assumed that the primary source of the disease was from Qom and the disease spread from Qom to other places,” reported the possibility of another source in the outbreak of this disease in Iran. Raisi said: “Now we also consider that the source was in two points; both in Qom and Gilan.”

He further explained the reason for the second possibility as follows: “We have found clues that a number of students living in Wuhan returned to Gilan province before Wuhan’s quarantine, and this possibility exists in this case.” However, he simultaneously emphasized that the Ministry’s information regarding Gilan is still incomplete.

Did Gilanis fail in their duties?

Kianoush Jahanpour, Director General of Public Relations of the Ministry of Health, also referred in remarks on Wednesday, the 6th of Farvardin (March 25) to the possibility of coronavirus spreading from two centers, Qom and Gilan. According to him, investigations are underway to prove this matter. Referring to the need for relevant authorities to report from epidemiology groups on this matter, in response to a question regarding the possibility of management and medical negligence in identifying infected people in Gilan, he said: “I do not believe that negligence has occurred. But the fact that people who had contact with China were not identified as suspects could be considered negligence.”

Why do we recognize Qom as the center of coronavirus outbreak in Iran?

With the official announcement of coronavirus entry into Iran, attention was immediately directed to Qom as the source of virus spread in Iran, and soon alarming news was published about the number of infected and dead from this virus that had no correspondence with official news.

Kianoush Jahanpour, the Health Ministry’s information official, was one of the first to announce after confirming coronavirus entry into Iran and the involvement of four Iranian provinces that the infected either lived in Qom or had traveled to this city in recent weeks and days.

Qom, with a population of about 1 million and 200 thousand people, is the second pilgrimage city in Iran after Mashhad, annually hosting millions of domestic and foreign tourists to visit the “Holy Shrine of Fatimah al-Masumeh” and the “Jamkaran Mosque”.

A large number of nationals and seminarians from neighboring countries also live in this city. About two years ago, Ayatollah Alireza Bi-Niaz, Deputy for Research at the Al-Mustafa Institute, informed media that more than 100 thousand seminarians from 136 countries study at this center.

With the spread of coronavirus news in Qom, attention quickly focused on the presence of foreign seminarians in the city. The head of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences spoke of the presence of 700 Chinese seminarians in Qom seminary as one of the factors spreading coronavirus in the city; statements that were soon denied by the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences public relations.

The manager of seminaries across the country and former head of “Al-Mustafa Institute,” one of the largest seminary education centers, also denied the connection of coronavirus outbreak in Qom with Chinese students. About two years ago, Ayatollah Alireza Bi-Niaz, Deputy for Research at the Al-Mustafa Institute, informed media that more than 100 thousand seminarians from 136 countries study at this center.

The Health Minister, while attributing the source of coronavirus in Qom to “Chinese carriers,” later said: “One of the deaths in Qom was a merchant who had indirect flights and trips to China.”

A city that was not quarantined, a country that has so far lost 2077 victims

While speculation continued about who brought the virus to Qom and the number of infected cases increased day by day, officials disagreed on quarantining Qom. Qom was not quarantined and the disease rapidly infected other provinces of the country and spread throughout Gilan.

Officials now speak of clues that do not identify Qom as the only center of virus spread.

Based on the statements of the Director General of Public Relations of the Iranian Ministry of Health, so far 43 people from “health personnel, doctors, nurses, paramedics, and others working in other units” have lost their lives due to coronavirus infection.

Jahanpour, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health, says that the total number of infected people with this disease in Iran (as of noon on the 6th of Farvardin) reached 27,017 people, 9,625 infected with COVID-19 have recovered and been discharged, and of course 2,077 have died.

New clues about the origin of coronavirus in Iran/Monitoring “Hantavirus” information in China-Iran

Source: DW