A massive wave of coronavirus in Iran; deaths in Tehran triple
The Minister of Health announced that they are facing one of the most severe waves of the Corona virus, and the Behesht Zahra Organization reported that the death toll in Tehran has tripled. The number of cities in the Corona red zone in Iran has doubled, including Tehran and some metropolitan cities.
The fourth wave of the coronavirus outbreak and the COVID-19 disease, which officials and experts have been warning about in recent days, has spread to a large part of Iran much faster than expected.
Saeed Namaki, speaking at a meeting of the Parliament's Health Commission on Monday morning, April 6, explaining the current situation of the coronavirus outbreak, said: "We have entered a new era, and I see this wave as much more severe than what some friends see."
According to the "Khaneh Mellat" news agency, the Minister of Health called the current situation of the Corona pandemic in Iran "challenging days" that could have been prevented.
In a note he posted on his Instagram page two days ago, he strongly criticized the authorities for ignoring the opinions of experts and not preventing Nowruz trips.
The increase in the number of infected and hospitalized people in recent days is mostly related to Nowruz traffic and shopping in March, and it was expected that the impact of travel, sightseeing, and going out for the Thirteenth Day would become apparent over time.
Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the National Headquarters for Combating Corona, had predicted on April 4 that some provinces had entered the fourth wave of the pandemic and others were on the verge of entering it, and that the effect of Nowruz travel would be seen in a sharp increase in cases in the next ten days.
42 new cities in red status
It seems that this is happening sooner rather than later. The National Headquarters for Combating Coronavirus, in publishing a new map of the coronavirus color-coding of Iran's regions, wrote that in the space of one day, 42 cities, including the centers of seven provinces, have been placed in a red (very high-risk) coronavirus status.
Sevenfold increase in red cities since the first of April
According to official statistics from the Ministry of Health, the number of cities in the red zone for coronavirus was 12 on April 1, 47 cities yesterday, and nearly 90 cities are currently in a very high-risk coronavirus situation.
Thus, the number of cities in red status has increased more than sevenfold since the beginning of this year and nearly doubled from yesterday to today.
This increasing trend is also evident in the daily statistics of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths due to COVID-19. According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, 13,890 new cases of coronavirus were identified in the past 24 hours and 172 people have lost their lives.
Sima Sadat Lari says that in the past 24 hours, more than 2,000 people have been hospitalized and nearly 4,100 people are in intensive care.
The number of hospitalized cases among identified infected people exceeded the thousand mark for the first time since the end of December on April 8, and has more than doubled since that day.
The death toll among those infected with the coronavirus was in triple digits on only two days from mid-February to April 13, but since then it has always been above a hundred.
Tehran's death toll triples in the new year
The Ministry of Health does not regularly publish disaggregated statistics on cases and deaths in the provinces, but statements by local officials sometimes paint a clearer picture of the situation in different regions.
Saeed Khal, CEO of the Behesht Zahra Organization, announced in a television interview on April 6 that from the beginning of July to the end of last year, the graph of Corona victims in Tehran was almost linear, with an average of about 20 people per day, and this figure has now increased to about 60 people.
The CEO of Behesht Zahra described the situation as very worrying and said that all managers and colleagues of the organization have been "re-arranged for crisis" since yesterday.
Half of the cities in red and orange status
Currently, the capitals of 13 Iranian provinces are in red and orange (high-risk) status, and according to Iraj Harirchi, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, 227 Iranian counties are currently in these two statuses, which includes half of Iranian cities.
Due to the start of a new, very severe wave of the Corona pandemic, the National Headquarters for Combating Corona has announced new restrictions for cities in red status, including the capital.
According to ISNA news agency, Gholamreza Abbas Pasha, explaining these restrictions, said that all government departments and centers can employ a maximum of 50 percent of their colleagues in person for essential work and a maximum of 30 percent for non-essential work.
Also, all unnecessary meetings and gatherings are prohibited, and the maximum number of participants in necessary meetings should not exceed 15 people.
Previously, the entry of non-local vehicles from and to all cities in red and orange status was prohibited.
The Ramadan celebrations, which begin next week, are another challenge that has raised many concerns. The National Headquarters for Combating Corona has authorized the holding of these ceremonies in yellow and blue cities, which does not seem to be a suitable criterion given the sharp increase in red and orange cities in one day.
Source: DW
