Coronavirus in Iran: Death toll reaches 19,000
The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health announced that in the past 24 hours, 188 more people in Iran died from coronavirus, bringing the official death toll from the virus to nearly 19,000.
On Wednesday, August 12, Sima Lari from Iran Television News announced the official number of coronavirus deaths in Iran as 18,988.
According to him, during this period, 2,510 more people infected with the coronavirus were identified in Iran, and 1,089 of them were hospitalized in the country's hospitals.
Including these people, the official number of people infected with the coronavirus in Iran has reached 333,699. Of these, 3,940 people are under observation in severe condition.
The announcement of daily coronavirus statistics in Iran by Ministry of Health officials continues, despite doubts about their accuracy.
Recently, Mohammad Reza Mahboobfar, a member of the National Headquarters for Combating Coronavirus, told the Jahan Sanat newspaper that the Iranian Ministry of Health's statistics on the number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus are "one twentieth of the real figures" and cannot be trusted.
Shortly after the publication of this interview, which led to the seizure of the Jahan Sanat newspaper, Kianoush Jahanpour, head of the Ministry of Health's Information Center, called Mahboobfar "Shirin-Aql" in a tweet without mentioning his name.
The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health continued his remarks today, saying that the provinces of Mazandaran, Tehran, Qom, Golestan, North Khorasan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi, Kerman, Semnan, East Azerbaijan, Markazi, Yazd, and Gilan are in red status.
According to him, the provinces of Fars, Ilam, Lorestan, Hormozgan, Zanjan, Qazvin, West Azerbaijan, Bushehr, Hamedan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyer Ahmad are also on alert.
The number of coronavirus cases in Iran continues to increase, while the head of the Supreme Council of the Iranian Medical System has announced that so far only "30 to 40 percent" of the country's resources and capacities have been used to contain the coronavirus.
According to Mehr News Agency, Mustafa Moein also said in an online press conference on Wednesday, August 12, that "if I had responsibility, I would not have allowed the entrance exam or any celebration or mourning to be held."
Mr. Moein predicted that in the month of Shahrivar and the fall season, "we should expect extraordinary problems," because "we will have mourning ceremonies in Muharram and travel following that, and we will have new waves."
He warned that if Muharram ceremonies are held as in previous years, "we will face a dangerous spike in coronavirus infections and deaths."
Source: Radio Farda
