Coronavirus in Iran: New record of infections, possibility of extending restrictions

For the third day in a row, the number of new coronavirus cases in Iran has surpassed 4,000, setting a new record. The head of the coronavirus response headquarters in Tehran has asked the health minister to extend restrictions in the capital for another week.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday afternoon, August 8, that 4,392 new cases of coronavirus infection had been identified in Iran in the past 24 hours, "based on definitive diagnostic criteria."

Sima Sadat Lari said that 230 patients with COVID-19 have lost their lives during this period, bringing the number of victims to 27,888.

This is the third consecutive day that the number of infected people has exceeded 4,000, a trend that has not been seen since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran was officially confirmed about 200 days ago. Thus, the number of infected people in Iran has reached 488,236.

Following the new wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, which is much more severe than the previous two waves, the situation in some areas, especially the Tehran metropolis, is considered critical and worrying.

Request to extend restrictions in Tehran Province

With health officials warning about the sharp increase in the number of infected people and the filling of intensive care beds, the National Coronavirus Management Headquarters, after some hesitation, finally agreed to impose restrictions and bans on certain activities in Tehran Province starting Saturday for a week.

On the eve of the end of the restrictions, the commander of the coronavirus disease management operations in the Tehran metropolis wrote a letter to the Minister of Health, Saeed Namaki, requesting that they be extended for another week.

According to ISNA news agency, Alireza Zali reported in this letter an increase in outpatient visits, new hospitalizations, critically ill patients in special wards, and a rise in the number of deaths of patients with COVID-19, calling the situation in Tehran critical.

A few days ago, Tehran City Council Chairman Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the closure of Tehran should continue for at least two weeks to be effective in breaking the chain of transmission and spread of the virus.

Tehran is one step away from the Corona tsunami

Hashemi warned in a Twitter message that Tehran is one step away from a tsunami of coronavirus deaths and that a week-long closure of some businesses is a conservative and ineffective measure.

Nahid Khodakarami, head of the council's health committee, emphasized on Wednesday that given the sharp increase in the number of infected people requiring hospitalization in intensive care units, one-week restrictions are too short and, taking into account the duration of the illness, this should continue for at least a month.

He told ISNA: "It is true that the government is thinking about the economic effects of the restrictions, but it is necessary for officials to make a decisive and urgent decision to both break the chain of disease and give medical staff a breath of fresh air."

Due to the severe economic recession that Iran was experiencing before the coronavirus outbreak, Hassan Rouhani's government is unable to support closed businesses, and for this reason it is resisting increasing restrictions as much as possible.

The probability of a three to fivefold increase in the number of infected people

Alireza Zali warned on a television program on Friday that if the coronavirus outbreak in Tehran and the "progressive course of the disease" continue in the current form, we should expect a three- to five-fold increase in the number of infected people and a one-and-a-half to three percent mortality rate.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, the number of infected people in the past 24 hours has increased by 840 compared to Friday, and the number of victims has increased by 43.

In recent weeks, the number of infected and dead has decreased slightly on some days compared to the previous day, but the overall trend has been upward. In the past seven and a half months, the highest number of victims in a single day was Wednesday with 239 victims, and the highest number of cases was today.

Source: DW