Head of Ahvaz Medical University reported 600% increase in coronavirus cases in some cities of Khuzestan and an average of 27% increase. Dr. Abdulnejadian said, “The overall trend of COVID-19 is upward in Khuzestan. The message is clear, crowded markets, parks and roads make crowded hospitals.” North Khorasan officials report the same trajectory for the novel coronavirus. Dr. Delshad said the number of cases is increasing because people assume everything is back to normal and don’t follow the protocols as intensely as they were. He added the province doesn’t have the equipment to diagnose the fast-spreading UK variant.
Mashhad Medical University announced 10-15% increase in cases and walk-ins. Dr. Hemmati of Shiraz Medical University warns about the rise in cases. According to his reported figures, the positivity rate in Fars province has been around 28.33% since the epidemic has begun. He added, “the alarm for the next peak has gone off.”
Iran’s capital is no exception to the coronavirus uptrend. Dr. Zali reported 2,120 hospitalizations, calling it a new record and compared it to under 1,800 admitted patients in Tehran hospitals in the past few weeks. He added, the number of cases and deaths have also increased in the past 24 hours. Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee said 6,200 walk-ins is another sign that the next peak is started to form. He raised concerns over the “Fajr Film Festival” in which the protocols have not been followed!
Dr. Raisi, Deputy Health Minister in Health Affairs, announced curfew between 9PM to 3AM in all cities across the country. He also said the traffic and travel bans in orange cities is expanded to yellow ones too in order to prevent the next peak! He pointed out the movie theaters must follow protocols and 30% capacity rules in Fajr Film Festival or “we will act and close them down.”
The National Task Force Spokesman admitted majority of people have no choice and can’t afford to stay home during COVID-19 crisis. He criticized Mohraz and other critics of Sputnik V by saying, “When we ask them if you have seen the data on the vaccine, they’ll say no, ‘but it’s not good in general!'” He didn’t provide any source for his claim that the Russian coronavirus vaccine has passed all necessary clinical trials and is safe! He also claimed the COVIran Barekat would be ready by mid-May. He outlined the timeline and said the second and third phase will be combined and tested on 500 volunteers!
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson presented the manipulated daily stats. According to Sima Sadat Lari, 79 died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24 hours while 6,597 tested positive for coronavirus. The graphs show the flatten curve and start of a new trend. Testing remains in the same range while positivity rate continue to rise, it was 12% compared to 11.41% yesterday.
R0: 4.17
Total: 1,424,596 (+6,597)
Dead: 58,038 (+79)
Recovered: 1,216,305
Critical: 3,896 (-36)
Admitted: 150,253 (+264)
Tests: 9,340,259 (11.2% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Behrooz Khalili
