The fifth wave of coronavirus in Iran, dominated by the Delta (Indian) variant, worsens by the day. Islamic Republic Ministry of Health announced 26 new “red” counties throughout 24 provinces, bringing the total to 169 “very high risk” areas. Coloring is based on daily COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000, indicating the overwhelming number of patients. CEO of Milad hospital in Tehran announced erection of a field hospital in the vicinity of the campus. Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee predicted the rising in cases and hospitalizations will continue until at least the end of next week.
Sistan-Baluchestan’s humanitarian catastrophe continues with Delta variant caused by Islamic Republic’s inaction, corruption and mismanagement. Other provinces report the same situation. Fars warns about deteriorating conditions and about 2,000 COVID-19 patients in the hospitals, Golestan is on the same boat, while Kohgioyeh-Boyerahmad officials confirm Delta variant cases in the province. Mazandaran records spike in cases and admissions, and so does Gilan. Khorasan Razavi, with Mashhad as its capital, announced a sharp uptick in their cases.
Health and medical experts continue pushing for speeding up the vaccination process, however, Islamic Republic officials keep promising false hopes. Today, Vaezi, Rouhani’s Chief of Staff, claimed in addition to the 2.9million doses from Japan, 1.5million doses will be imported every week! He even managed to use “as scheduled” with a straight face. It is notable, various officials at different times had promised vaccination of 14 million in the vulnerable groups by June 22, then July 22. According to the Ministry of Health, since February 9, total of 7,523,716 shots have been administered and only 2,191,936 (2.6% of Iran population) are fully vaccinated with Sinopharm, Covaxin, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V, the vaccines with little efficacy against the Delta variant.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 23,371 tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Iran in the past 24 hours and 184 died of COVID-19. The daily reported data have been criticized since day one and Iran Medical Board estimates the real numbers are at least 3 times higher. Sima Sadat Lari failed to mention variant specific stats or slow vaccination but remembered to blame people for not complying with the protocols. It is worth noting, health and medical officials have been complaining about the government’s complacency in implementation of restrictions. As seen on the graphs, active and critical cases are on the rise. Positivity rate broke records and reached 31.42% when daily PCR testing continues to decline.
R0: 2.83
Total: 3,440,400 (+23,371)
Dead: 86,391 (+184)
Recovered: 3,069,943
Critical: 3,963 (+97)
Active Cases: 284,066 (+9,404)
Tests: 24,745,601 (29.3% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Alireza Masoumi
