Khuzestan officials are worried about the beginning of a surge in cases, admissions and deaths. Head of Khuzestan Health Network reported 1.7% increase in cases, 10.8% in admissions and 26% in COVID-19 deaths in the week ending on January 4 in comparison with the previous week. Lorestan Lieutenant Governor warned residents that coronavirus cases are on the rise once again. Head of Kermanshah Medical University confirmed the reports and said the “fourth wave would be worse, deadlier and more widespread.” Fars officials report spike in cases in south of the province.
Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee said number of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are increasing while it takes 4-5 weeks to see the rise in the number of deaths. Dr. Zali emphasized premature reopenings and relaxing restrictions would lead to the next peak. He criticized private schools in Tehran which have made in-person classes mandatory for some grades. He added, “Number of tests done in “martyr Soleimani plan” has declined and this is not a good sign. Contact tracing and early diagnosis of cases are very important.” He suggested there should be more restrictions in the next 2 weeks, also “Azad University exam in Tehran should be held online or postponed.” He said public transportation is capital’s “Achilles’ heel” and more than 1 million people have used Metro every day in the past few days which is a “worrisome sign.”
Dr. Tabarsi, head of Infectious ward at Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran, warned about normalization, reduction in people abiding by the protocols and “rash reopenings.” He said if this path continues, “the fourth peak is inevitable.” He reported a 3% increase in hospitalizations in Tehran in the past 24 hours compared to the day before.
Despite all these warnings and alarming signs, Islamic Republic Government has reopened tourist attractions in Tehran, Shiraz, and other tourist hot spots.
A member of National Task Force revealed Islamic Republic is to import coronavirus vaccine from Sweden. Dr Minoo Mohraz did not offer more details other than it would be of a “recombinant” nature. Based on previous reports and the fact that AstraZeneca is a British-Swedish company producing a recombinant virus vector in cooperation with Oxford University, it looks like Islamic Republic “intends” to import a British made vaccine. Dr Mohraz previously had hinted that India, which produces AstraZeneca vaccine, could be the origin for some doses for Iranians. On January 8, Khamenei issued a decree: “Importing UK and US made vaccines is forbidden.”
Sima Sadat Lari announced her daily undercounted and manipulated data. According to the Ministry of Health, 98 died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Iran while 6,309 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. That is a significant increase in deaths and cases compared to the day before. Testing remains in the same range, far behind the promised 100,000 a day! Positivity rate jumped to 11.45% from 10.84% yesterday. Lari also warned against “assuming everything is normal” and possible fourth peak on the way. She said, “The coronavirus situation in Iran is extremely fragile and unstable.”
Basic Reproduction Rate (R0) and graphs depict the never ending human catastrophe in Iran for the past 11+ months.
R0: 4.18
Total: 1,379,286 (+6,309)
Dead: 57,481 (+98)
Recovered: 1,171,070
Critical: 4,057 (-13)
Admitted: 150,735 (-65)
Tests: 8,960,186 (10.7% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
