Iran is ravaged by the coronavirus Delta (Indian) variant but Islamic Republic officials continue to sit on their hands and watch the chaos comes to its natural end, while they make money out of it! In Sistan-Baluchestan, people have to wait in line for their dead to be buried, and shrouds are sold on intersections! They have to wait for 2 hours in crowded lines to get a PCR test in summer heat of the desert. There is no water for drinking, let alone for sanitation and widespread blackouts continue to endanger all patients, not just COVID-19 cases depending on electric oxygen generators at home. Hospitals are filled with patients.
Widespread blackouts and shortage of water could be generalized to other areas of the country as well. There are reports from Tehran, Karaj, Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Bushehr, Kerman, Yazd, Khuzestan,…about long and multiple cut offs which have caused issues in different sectors, including hospitals and COVID-19 patients.
Ministry of Health officials admit the fifth wave of coronavirus is worse than ever. The Spokesperson announced 13.2% increase in positive cases, 11% rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and 7.2% spike in deaths! Dr. Minoo Mohraz, a member of National COVID-19 Task Force, rebuked the government officials for slow vaccination and loose restrictions. According to reports, despite the “orders” to close down Tehran Bazaar due to its “red” status, all shops were open today. The same applies to the rest of the country. Mohraz says people are fed up and the summer heat does not help either. People say, “We can’t afford to close our shops. The government does not support us for anything. We do not know for how long this might go on, but we have to live.”
Head of National COVID-19 Epidemiology Committee explained one of the reasons for the fifth wave of coronavirus: Lack of enough forces! Dr. Souri wrote this shortcoming has led to incomplete and loose implementation of restrictions, causing the virus to spread even faster. However, Dr. Souri failed to mention that Ministry of Health, one of the areas with direct impact on the epidemic, was supposed to hire new staff last year, but failed to do so. It is not even capable of keeping its current staff, since healthcare workers’ protests happen every day across Iran, demanding their overdue wages and benefits.
COVID-19 has not only been a problem on the streets, but in horrifying conditions of Islamic Republic prison, it has become a weapon to silence political prisoners. AmirHossein Moradi is one of those victims whom has tested positive a week ago and his condition, due to his psoriasis, is deteriorating in hospital. According to reports, the prison officials did not inform his cell mates and now the majority of political prisoners in that ward are showing symptoms.
The slow, chaotic and secretive process of vaccination has provoked criticism from all Iranians. An official revealed the “homegrown” vaccines were just a dream while Dr. Mohraz said nobody knows where the delivered 400,000 COVIran Barekat vaccines are. In her interview with Hamshahri, the lead researcher of the vaccine admitted the COVIran Barekat may have no effect on the Delta variant but could help lowering the chance of severe disease.
According to official data, since February 9, total of 6,451,945 shots have been administered while only 1,988,380 (2.36% of Iran population) are fully vaccinated. The slow vaccination process has helped Armenia to boost its tourism industry. The “vaccination tourism” in Armenia, UAE and Russia has become so popular among Iranians that more flights are scheduled for Yerevan from Tabriz and Tehran. Even taxis and buses are chartered to bring groups of volunteers out of the country! However, that is not only beneficial for the destination countries, but the regime also makes money out of it!
Ministry of Health Spokesperson announced her daily manipulated and undercounted figures, even though according to Iran Medical Board officials, the real numbers for COVID-19 in Iran are at least 3 times higher than the daily reports. Sima Sadat Lari claimed 165 died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Iran while 13,781 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She did not mention any specifics about variants. As seen on the graphs, critical and active cases rose, daily PCR tests reached the lowest level in the past few months, while positivity rate reached a new high of 17.52%.
R0: 2.82
Total: 3,254,818 (+13,781)
Dead: 84,792 (+165)
Recovered: 2,926,266
Critical: 3,229 (+22)
Active Cases: 243,760 (+2,180)
Tests: 23,967,488 (28.5% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
