“In the next 2-4 weeks, COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases in Iran will be horrifying,” head of Infectious-disease ward at Loqman hospital in Tehran warned. Dr. Shokouhi confirmed the number of cases is “definitely higher than what is reported” by the Ministry of Health because it only reflects the ones with positive test, test itself has false negatives and number of tests in the country are disappointing! He urged the government to reimpose all restrictions as soon as possible, saying “normalization” of the situation has caused the explosion of statistics! He added, all common colds must be considered Omicron and self-quarantine.
Head of National Health Research Center stated the probability of 3-digit daily COVID-19 deaths is high! Dr. Akbari-Sari predicted in the next 2 weeks, daily COVID-19 cases will reach 30,000 and hospitalizations will overload the healthcare system. He confirmed positive tests and admissions have soared in the past few days and hospitalizations will follow the same pattern soon. Head of Mashhad Medical University announced the sixth wave has begun in the province. Dr. Kiani defined “full vaccination” as 3-dose and admitted people are not interested in the vaccines used in Iran.
Ardabil, Fars, Markazi, Gilan, Khorasan Razavi, and Khuzestan are among provinces with significant rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases. Bushehr reported more than double hospitalizations in less than 2 weeks, demanding restrictions to be reimposed. While flawed “coloring” system of the Islamic Republic Ministry of Health has upgraded 1 city in Yazd province to “red” status, 8 to “orange” and 114 to “yellow,” health experts continue to criticize the system asking for its criteria to be revised as soon as possible. Secretary of Epidemiology Committee at the National COVID-19 Task Force emphasized the country is experiencing the ascending arm of the sixth wave and urged officials to “act now” and change the “coloring system,” reimpose restrictions and encourage people to vaccinate. Dr. Younesian criticized the government for late reactions to the deadly virus and warned “we’ll see the results of reopenings in the next 2 weeks!”
Despite stark warnings from medical professionals against reopening of schools and universities, Islamic Republic pushes forward with its plan. Meanwhile, regime’s Ministry of Health has approved unproven and questionable Sinopharm and PastoCoVac vaccines for the 9-12 year old students! According to Dr. Gooya, 8 million in this age group will be vaccinated soon and children below 9-years-old will be next in line!
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 15,548,417 (18.51% 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 29 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 11,851 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 318,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 1.50
Total: 6,279,410 (+11,851)
Dead: 132,303 (+29)
Recovered: 6,088,367
Critical: 1,267 (+26)
Active Cases: 58,740 (+8,528)
Total Tests: 44,323,800
Cover: Seyed Mohammad Alerasoul
