Islamic Republic Health Minister admitted the fourth wave of coronavirus has begun in Iran because officials did not listen to him to ban travel during Persian New Year holidays. Saeed Namaki added this is one of the worst waves facing healthcare system. He “predicted” bad days are ahead of the healthcare staff. Namaki claimed none of Islamic Republic officials has received vaccine, saying Khamenei has asked for domestic vaccine! There have been rumors that Khamenei and other high ranking officials have received Pfizer or other foreign vaccine. Later, Khamenei banned US, UK and France made vaccines for Iranians.
On the other hand, FDA announced 700,800 doses of Astrazeneca-Oxford vaccine arrived in Iran through South Korea and COVAX program. FDA Spokesman claimed by the end of May, 3.6 million more doses of the vaccine will enter the country. He asserted that’s part of 16.8 million doses Islamic Republic had purchased from COVAX. At the same time, Deputy Health Minister Harirchi claimed 590,000 Iranians have received one shot of a vaccine (Sputnik V, Sinopharm or Covaxin). He said very few has completed their inoculation. FDA Spokesman had previously announced 160,601 doses used by March 27.
In the meantime, Ministry of Health announced 54 new counties as “high risk” areas in the country. According to the new list, Tehran is “red” and so are 6 other province capitals. 7 capitals are added to the “orange” list! Despite the “comprehensive smart plan” determining the restrictions in each color category, many provincial officials are deciding about what restrictions to impose later. According to reports, even museums and other tourist attractions are still open in Tehran and other high risk regions.
Tehran officials reported double hospitalizations in the past 3 days. Head of Tehran cemetery said number of dead in the same time has tripled to 60 per day in the city of Tehran. Hojjat Nazari, a member of Tehran City Council criticized officials for blaming everything on ordinary citizens. Meanwhile, Saeedi, Chabahar representative at the Islamic Consultative Assembly, rebuked the statesmen for not banning travels during Nowruz holidays, saying that’s why the numbers in Chabahar, Sistan-Baluchestan province, are on the rise.
Many provinces report increasing infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Alborz authorities warn about hospitalizations in the province being more than the first wave and passing the second wave! Alborz Medical University Spokesman warned more and more young individuals are dying of COVID-19 in the current wave. Semnan sounded the alarm for rapid spike in cases. Tabriz is on the verge of turning “red.” Mazandaran officials are stunned at the speed of rise in cases and becoming “red.” Ahvaz is out of ICU beds and predicts more hospitalizations in coming days. Hospitalizations doubled in Golestan in the past 2 weeks and in essence “COVID-19 bomb exploded.” Kohgiloyeh-Boyerahmad, Qazvin, Fars, Kermanshah,… report along the same lines.
Ministry of Health Spokesperson cautions about rapid spread of coronavirus from the west to the east of Iran. Sima Sadat Lari presented her daily manipulated numbers too, which are widely criticized and according to Iran Medical Board officials are at least 3 times undercounted. She claimed 172 died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24 hours while 13,890 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The first time more than 13,500 is reported since December 4, 2020. Daily PCR tests remain in the same range as yesterday while positivity rate jumped 3 points to 19.13%. Active cases increased by more than 5,300, a record in months, as seen on the graphs.
R0: 3.78
Total: 1,945,964 (+13,890)
Dead: 63,332 (+172)
Recovered: 1,658,978
Critical: 4,095 (+38)
Active Cases: 223,654 (+5,309)
Tests: 13,183,709 (15.8% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
