Walking into death to stay safe from coronavirus; Global coverage of 700 Iranians’ deaths from methanol consumption

The death of 700 Iranians from methanol consumption has received widespread coverage in international publications.

Associated Press reports that an Iranian official announced on Monday, April 28, that 700 people have died from consuming methanol, a toxic substance (wood alcohol), based on the false belief that it can eliminate the coronavirus. This report was also covered on the Time website.

This figure is higher than the statistics released by the Ministry of Health, and Hossein Hassaniyani, a scientific advisor to Iran’s Ministry of Health, stated that the difference in figures is because some of the victims died outside hospitals.

Earlier, Gholamhossein Ismaili, spokesman for Iran’s Judiciary, on Tuesday, April 9, described the death toll and poisoning cases resulting from alcohol consumption as higher than “expected” and said that there were more than 600 deaths and more than 3,000 poisoning cases in the country.

Official statistics from countries such as Iran, China, and Russia cannot be verified by independent experts and cannot be considered authoritative and final. For example, the actual figures regarding the spread of coronavirus are much higher than the announced figures, and officials do not provide information about the actual number of infected and deceased.

Source: Voice of America