Today, Iran broke another record! 3,574 cases in 1 day is the highest number of daily infections in the country! There has been a significant shift in Rouhani’s take on COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, since the outbreak was announced in Iran in Feb. He used to say “everything will go back to normal from next Saturday” over and over, but he’s learned that this deadly epidemic is not going anywhere, especially with the way Islamic Republic has been “managing” it, with ifs, buts, wishes and hoping for miracles. Today, he said, “People should learn to live with the virus. When health of our citizens is our highest priority, economic activities must go on too.” However, in reality, he ordered the premature reopening of all businesses on April 11, after just three weeks of restrictions and announced publicly, “everything is under control”. All because he and the regime were afraid of people’s wrath and bigger protests than November 2019!
Last week, Rouhani had said, “If 40% of Iranians have antibodies in their bodies, we won’t be worried as much. Every day I ask the Health Minister, “how is our antibody situation?” “. Today, Deputy Health Minister in Treatment Affairs said, “Let me make it clear, serology tests which could burden people with huge costs, are not diagnostic and are only good for research puposes for now.” Serology tests such as ELISA are used to quanify antibodies specific to an antigen, such as coronavirus!
Khuzestan is still in critical condition, because as stated before, a 5-day lockdown would not be enough. 7 members of a soccer team in Abadan have tested positive and Footbal Federation would like to resume premier league in the country while many teams have players involved with COVID-19. Ahvaz’s Medical University official said, “The soar in number of cases was predictable when people were gathering for Eid Fitr holiday.” The same “holiday” that the regime announced it’s OK to hold prayers in all mosques! Let’s not forget the effect “Laylatul Qadr” gatherings in Ramadan had on the spread of the virus! The same religious ceremony that Khamenei implicitly ordered the National Corona Combating Task Force to allow people to participate.
Hormozgan is not being ravaged by the virus, and according to provincial officials, 32-35% of the population are testing positive with more than 80% being asymptomatic, which is what everybody is afraid of about this virus. Hormozgan Governor has asked everybody to refrain from unnecessary travels and stay home but how is that possible when people need to make ends meet and every single business in the country is open?!
Yazd is the next province in the ever growing list of critical provinces. Officials in this province warn residents to stay home or the disease will be back for the second round. Fars officials are also worried traveling between provinces may spread the virus even further! With no travel restriction, the whole country is at risk of an even worse disaster than the first wave that devastated Iranians.
Khorasan Razavi, East and West Azerbaijan, Bushehr, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Kurdistan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Qazvin and South Khorasan are also in alarming situation. Including Khuzestan, Yazd and Hormozgan, this is more than 1/3 of the country! Still, some universities, such as Amir Kabir University in Tehran is forcing students to attend for final exams in person!
Besides the record breaking number of daily cases, 59 deaths were also confirmed since yesterday. Graphs, reproduction rate (R0) and alarming increase in the number of admissions show the devastating catastrophe on the way, despite the media blackout on the matter. These days most news is about US unrest and other countries’ demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter! It looks like the only lives that don’t matter are Iranians who are suffering every day in the hands of the brutal, corrupt and incompetent Islamic Republic.
R0: 1.25
Total: 164,270 (+3,574)
Dead: 8,071 (+59)
Healed: 127,485
Critical: 2,569 (+12)
Admitted: 28,714 (+1,236)
Tests: 1,019,362 (Number of labs wasn’t mentioned in today’s news. Officials may have finally figured out there are discrepancies when they lie.)
Iran International Death Toll: 13,193 (Last updated on April 25)
