COVID-19 cases keep rising in Iran while Islamic Republic officials are adamant to reopen universities and schools from next week with mandated in-person attendance, the same schools which are crowded, have ventilation issues, masks and disinfectants are scarce and the protocols are not followed. Ministry of Health reported 1,533 confirmed cases of Omicron in the country, with performing less than 100,000 PCR tests a day, and about 1% sequenced.
Tehran Corona Combating Committee reported 15% increase in COVID-19 cases compared to last week. Dr. Zali said the capital’s situation is “unstable!” Deputy Head of Ahvaz Medical University estimated 10,000 Omicron cases exist in Khuzestan alone. Dr. Alavi said the low number of testing is one of the reasons for wrong data in the country. He added about 80% of positive tests are are Omicron. Alavi emphasized the sixth wave has begun. Head of the University said “all common cold cases are Omicron infected COVID-19!” Pahlavan from Mashhad Medical University confirmed the increase in positive cases in the second biggest city of Iran. He reiterated all “common cold” cases must be taken seriously.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 13,144,426 (15.64% of Iran population) are vaccinated against COVID-19 with these vaccines. The majority of shots used in Iran are the ineffective Sinopharm and failed COVIran Barekat. WHO recommends 3 doses of Sinopharm to be effective against Delta but studies have found the vaccine ineffective against Omicron. It is worth mentioning, Khamenei banned US and UK made vaccines in January to promote his own foundation’s COVIran Barekat.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 18 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 3,653 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Number of daily tests performed in the country continue to decline despite experts advice to have a more active case finding. Active cases begin to rise too. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 317,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 1.48
Total: 6,227,849 (+3,653)
Dead: 132,113 (+18)
Recovered: 6,068,983
Critical: 1,295 (-18)
Active Cases: 26,753 (+1,471)
Total Tests: 43,589,571
Cover: Ebrahim Rafiei
