Three new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Qom and Arak

Three more patients hospitalized in Qom and Arak have been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus in Iran. Two people suspected of being infected with the coronavirus have also been identified in Babol. A doctor also says that dozens of people with coronavirus symptoms have died in Qom hospitals.

The head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health announced that, based on laboratory evidence, three hospitalized patients in Qom and Arak have been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 (Coronavirus), and the aforementioned patients are currently under observation in the hospital.

According to IRNA, Kianoush Jahanpour said about the infection of three people with the new coronavirus in Qom and Arak: "As of this morning (Thursday, March 2, 2020), tests indicate two new cases of COVID-19 in Qom and one in Arak. All three patients have Iranian citizenship, and the infected person in Arak is also a resident of Qom and one of our medical colleagues. Including these cases, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reaches five."

Jahanpour also announced a meeting of the "Coronavirus Response Headquarters" on Thursday morning, in which issues such as the structure of prevention, identification, and management of the disease, as well as the readiness of emergency medical centers and rapid response teams, the readiness of hospital beds, public education, and the proposed health protocol for holding the March 2 elections were discussed and reviewed.

According to the decision of the "Coronavirus Response Headquarters", the leave of all deans and vice deans of universities and medical schools across the country has been canceled until further notice, and all missions abroad have also been removed from the agenda.

According to Kianoush Jahanpour, one of the proposals put forward at the meeting of the headquarters to combat the Corona virus was to temporarily restrict travel to the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh, Jamkaran Mosque, and other pilgrimage sites and gathering places in the city of Qom, which is the responsibility of the Qom Governorate to implement.

The Ministry of Health has also recommended that student and school tourism and pilgrimage camps, as well as all seminars and conferences in the city of Qom, be canceled until further notice.

The head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health said regarding the parliamentary elections on Friday: "There are no special considerations in this regard, and preventive and health suggestions and recommendations regarding the elections, especially the Qom constituency, have been brought to the attention of the country's election headquarters and the Ministry of Interior."

"Dozens of people with symptoms of coronavirus have died in Qom"

Dr. Mohammad Molaei, a physician living in Qom whose brother died from the coronavirus, said that there is no isolation at Kamkar Hospital in Qom, where his brother was hospitalized, and there is not even any news or warning.

Dr. Molaei told the "Rukna" news agency on Thursday, February 20, "The day before, I was informed by the ICU of Kamkar Hospital in Qom that my brother's coronavirus test had come back positive. This is while there is no isolation in this hospital. There is not even any news or warning. The head of the ICU told me on the first day that we have had several other cases with the same condition, where their oxygen levels gradually decreased and then they were intubated and then they died. He said that they did not have a good prognosis and therefore, based on my experience, the probability of their survival is low."

Dr. Molaei added: "I told them that my brother had no history of illness, but he said that the previous cases had no history of illness either. They said that all the tests were negative and it is not clear what kind of infection this is. They are receiving all the broad-spectrum antibacterial and antiviral drugs, but the symptoms not only do not improve, but also get worse. Apparently, the policy was to keep the disease silent."

The doctor's words continue to be shocking. He says: "It is interesting that during the week that my brother was in the hospital, no request was made for a coronavirus test for him, and on the last day, at my insistence and request, they took a leap of faith and sent the coronavirus test to Tehran, and today the test result was ready, which was positive. It is interesting that dozens of people with these symptoms have died in Qom hospitals, and the cause has been declared pneumonia and lung infection. And it is really not clear whether it was pneumonia, influenza, or coronavirus?"

"Apparently, there has been no plan to test patients for coronavirus until now. The night before my brother died in the ICU, I told the head of the ward to test my brother for coronavirus. They replied that we have not tested him for coronavirus yet. With my insistence and request, they finally did so. In addition, in the past few weeks, a number of other patients with the same symptoms have died. My brother who died had no underlying illness. He was 60 years old and a retired teacher with no history of traveling anywhere. He contracted coronavirus in the alley and the market."

At the end of his interview with Rokna News Agency, Dr. Molaei suggested to the Ministry of Health that the ministry submit a list of patients who died with only respiratory infection symptoms in the past month from all hospitals and ICU departments in order to determine the mortality rate and spread of the disease nationwide.

Two suspects identified in Babol

Simultaneously with the confirmation of new cases of coronavirus in Qom and Arak, the deputy health director of Babol University of Medical Sciences in Mazandaran announced the identification of two people suspected of being infected with the coronavirus in the city.

According to Mostafa Javanian, “these two individuals are currently in quarantine and their samples are being taken.” IRNA reported that Javanian declined to provide further information about the patients suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus in the university’s quarantine area and postponed a detailed comment on the matter until later.

Previously, the deputy health director of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences announced that no cases of this viral disease had been observed in the university's quarantine area.

Source: DW