National Task Force refuses to quarantine Khuzestan, where the new UK variant of coronavirus is ravaging through the province with hospitals at full capacity and shortage of staff reported by officials. Abadan Medical College reports exponential growth in number of COVID-19 patients in SW of Khuzestan. Dr. Salmanzadeh said the only way to curtail coronavirus in the province is by locking it down. But Islamic Republic officials seems to be repeating their mistake at the beginning of the epidemic in Iran a year ago when refused to quarantine Qom as the epicenter.
Tehran hospitals staff report increasing number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the capital. Even though Deputy Health Minister Harirchi refuses to call soaring cases the next wave, health experts and provincial officials say the “fourth peak has begun.” Head of Tehran Corona Combating Committee says restrictions must be implemented more strictly, not the other way, the way the government has reopened all businesses and borders. Dr. Zali reported 9% increase in ICU admissions and 10.1% in hospitalizations compared to last week in Tehran.
Head of Isfahan Medical University said Isfahan is second in line in fighting against the new UK coronavirus. Hormozgan reported 7 new cases of the variant, reaching 9, all between 20-50 years old, 4 of whom have 30-60% lung involvement. The province is struggling with rising cases. Markazi province recorded 3 new cases who are all contacts of the person previously reported. The UK variant spreads much faster and officials say between 24-72hrs the virus will manifest itself. Alborz officials announced 2 new cases (68-yo male and 60-yo female) while 3 previously known ones have died of COVID-19. Khorasan Razavi reports 5 new UK cases, a total of 6. Mashhad Medical University announced this fast-spreading version has spread throughout the second biggest city of Iran. A faculty member at Shiraz Medical University says all COVID-19 cases must be considered UK variant until proven otherwise.
Saeed Namaki scolded officials in Khuzestan for keeping one of the border crossing points with Iraq open until yesterday. However, he didn’t mention why National Task Force refuses to quarantine the province! Health Minister aka DG of Morgue, admitted Khuzestan is in new wave and the new UK variant is everywhere in the country. National Task Force Spokesman, Raisi, announced 112 total number of confirmed cases with the new coronavirus UK variant, while 8 have died of the infection. However, Sadat Lari announced 113 total cases until yesterday afternoon!
FDA Spokesman said coronavirus vaccination is not mandatory for now but after expansion of the vaccination program, some social services will only be available to immunized people. Only 0.02% of Iran population have been vaccinated so far. Khamenei has banned UK, US and France made COVID-19 vaccines. Ministry of Health Spokesperson expressed optimism that by the end of fall 2021, 60-70% of population will receive shots, meaning another 10 months till possible herd immunity in Iran.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson announced her daily manipulated figures, even though officials admitted the real numbers are 3-4 times higher than what’s reported. Sima Sadat Lari reported 73 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours in Iran while 8,270 tested positive for coronavirus. Testing remains in the same range. Clinical cases rose for the second day in a row while active cases continue to increase, as seen on the graphs.
R0: 4.18
Total: 1,598,875 (+8,270)
Dead: 59,736 (+73)
Recovered: 1,365,253
Critical: 3,705 (+9)
Admitted: 173,886 (+1,485)
Tests: 10,616,717 (12.7% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Isa Fathi
