Director of PR office at the Islamic Republic Ministry of Health announced the number of COVID-19 cases with confirmed Omicron variant has reached 467 across 22 provinces of Iran. The deadly disease continues taking lives every day while the Islamic regime continues its inaction to prevent the sixth wave. Some universities have decided to cancel their in-person final exams and some are persistent on students attending the university, despite all warnings against any gathering and amid Omicron spread.
During the past week, December 30 to January 5, the undercounted and manipulated data of the Ministry of Health shows 9,715 tested positive for the novel coronavirus (irrespective of their variant), 2,146 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized and 282 died of the disease. North Khorasan, Yazd, Kerman, Fars, Zanjan, Alborz and Khuzestan report increasing number of hospitalizations and cases during this week. Islamic Republic officials undermine the severity of Omicron while WHO warns that is a wrong assumption and the new variant can cripple healthcare systems across the world. Crowded religious gatherings and state funerals are held while number of daily tests reduced.
According to official data, since February 9, only 9,505,625 (11.31% of Iran population) have received 3 doses of 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. In a recent report, discrepancies indicate that some of the imported vaccines may have been sent for the terrorist group, Hezbollah. Dr. Zahraei of Ministry of Health admitted the vaccination started late in Iran. He also claimed more “domestic” shots will be introduced to the basket soon.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 19 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 1,178 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. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 316,000 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: 6,204,224 (+1,178)
Dead: 131,821 (+19)
Recovered: 6,048,957
Critical: 2,060 (-149)
Active Cases: 23,446 (-270)
Total Tests: 42,661,568
Cover: Khalil Mousavi
