February 10 was the anniversary of 1979 Islamic Revolution where Basijis poured into streets with “down with America” chants and signs on their motorbikes and cars, but that didn’t stop some of them to gather in Azadi Square to set fire on American flag. The health protocols, especially social distancing, were not observed but since it was to “celebrate the regime,” it was all permitted.
In the meantime, more provinces report the beginning of a new uptrend and warn the next wave would be “much worse.” Khuzestan upgraded 4 more counties to “orange” and implemented stricter restrictions. Gilan officials announced increasing cases, especially critical ones, in their hospitals, warning people to refrain from any gatherings during the long weekend!
Mashhad Medical University said they’ve contacted the Ministry of Health to see if there’s been an error in designating Mashhad, the second biggest city in the country, as “blue” instead of “yellow.” Deputy Head of the University said, hospitalization has increased 7-10% across the city compared to last month and there have been more than 600 walk-ins! Mehdi Ghalyan added, the Ministry may have changed the color on the Mask App based on special consideration or something that we don’t know! The anniversary of Islamic Revolution could be a “special consideration.”
FDA Public Relations Office announced the second batch of Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, is to arrive Iran tomorrow. According to the report, 100,000 doses are included in this batch. In the meantime, Mokhber, head of “Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order” responsible for COVIran Barekat, made another bold claim, saying the vaccine will “definitely receive worldwide approval.”
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson presented her daily undercounted and engineered data. According to Sima Sadat Lari, 61 Iranians lost their lives to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours while 7,585 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Testing decreased by more than 3,000 but positivity rate reached 14.36% from 13.58% yesterday. Graphs depict the rise in active cases and the new wave of COVID-19 in Iran.
R0: 4.18
Total: 1,488,981 (+7,585)
Dead: 58,686 (+61)
Recovered: 1,272,287
Critical: 3,743 (-19)
Admitted: 158,008 (+1,755)
Tests: 9,831,993 (11.8% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Pantea Nikzad
