Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee explicitly confirmed the fifth wave of coronavirus has begun in the capital, dominated by the Delta (Indian) variant. Dr. Zali reported a negative balance between COVID-19 recoveries and hospitalizations. In the meantime, head of Tehran cemetery (Behesht-e-Zahra) announced a steep uptrend in number of COVID-19 deaths and said the morticians are all on duty. He said they are all exhausted after 510 days of the epidemic in Iran. Mashhad, the second biggest city in the country, is also in “red” status indicating COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise. However, movie theaters remain open despite lockdown rules for “red” cities.
Zabol’s Representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly reiterated other provincial officials that people are unable to afford masks or disinfectants, causing the Delta variant to go unleashed. Hospitals are filled in the province and death toll is out of control. Ardabil officials report increasing number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Mazandaran records rising infections. Qazvin announced Delta variant cases in the province. Markazi confirmed 35 identified cases with Delta (Indian) strain in the province. Hormozgan officials reported shortage of healthcare professionals and hospital beds. Coronavirus cases in Kohgiloyeh-Boyerahmad reaches an uptick after “2 months,” with the majority of cases being Delta. Shiraz Medical University official warns about “worrying spread of Delta variant” in Fars province.
Widespread blackouts and shortage of water continues, creating additional problems for patients in hospitals and at homes. Islamic Republic regime in Iran has no plan to rectify the issue.
On the other hand, vaccination remains in dripping mode and as usual, a new contradictory statement is issued by officials! Dr. Minoo Mohraz, lead researcher of COVIran Barekat claims her vaccine is the only approved vaccine in Iran and PastoCoVac, a supposedly collaborative work between Cuba and Iran, is not for Iran. She confirmed what Dr. Tabarsi has said before, quoting Cuban Ambasador that Soberana 02 is for Cubans and Latin American countries who are in grave need, not for Iranians. In response, Director of Pasteur Institute, in charge of PastoCoVac, refuted her claims and said the first batch will be delivered to the Ministry of Health next week. FDA Spokesman denied Mohraz’s assertion as well, saying he doesn’t know why she would say something like that!
Meanwhile, National COVID-19 Task Force Spokesman said he will not mention anything about receiving number of doses from foreign companies until the vaccines are in the freezer! Dr. Raisi then claims 1.5million doses will arrive tomorrow, 1.5 million in 2 weeks and 5-6million in August and September! He did not mention any details about the brands or countries of origin. He also confirmed the Ministry has access to 380,000 doses of COVIran Barekat at this moment.
According to official data, since February 9, total of 6,559,650 shots have been administered and only 2,052,170 (2.44% of Iran population) are fully vaccinated.
Ministry of Health Spokesperson announced her daily manipulated data which have been criticized since day one and Iran Medical Board believes the real numbers are at least 3 times higher. Sima Sadat Lari claimed 166 died of COVID-19 in the past 24hours in Iran and 17,212 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She did not mention any specifics about the variants. Active and critical cases and positivity rate continue to rise, as seen on the graphs.
R0: 2.82
Total: 3,304,135 (+17,212)
Dead: 85,261 (+166)
Recovered: 2,967,821
Critical: 3,344 (+48)
Active Cases: 251,053 (+2,811)
Tests: 23,198,270 (28.6% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Majid Khahi
