81 days have passed since the first case of novel coronavirus was officially announced in Iran! Not much has changed, where according to their made-up numbers there are 1000+ infected daily! 1,383 new cases and 51 deaths confirmed since yesterday! Khamenei attended a video conference meeting with the National Corona Combating Task Force and 31 provincial Governors listening to their reports and repeating his talk points about how great the management has been so far! He also bragged about how people have been patient and content, saying, “We saw how people in western countries invaded stores and emptied shelves but this never happened in Iran.” The truth is, Iranians didn’t have the purchasing power to buy much since poverty ravages through the country because of Khamenei and his gangs’ ruling the country.
He continued, “Period of quarantine was a good period for families to be around each other while it’s not seen the same in western countries.” In fact, the official reports from different cities including Tehran, Isfahan,… show the conflicts among family members have increased during this period and many calls were placed to 110 (equivalent of 911) complaining of domestic violence.
He also said, “The Task Force should ask prayer experts who know the importance and spirit of invocation to decide whether all mosques and holy shrines should open for “Laylatul Qadr”. Whatever is decided then, myself and everybody else must follow.” Laylatul Qadr (Night of Decree) is a holy Islamic night in Ramadan when first Quran was sent down from Heaven. In Shia, there are 3 nights with specific and special prayers where people gather in large numbers! These nights are one of the pillars of Shia and mullahs make a lot of money during these times. It was previously decided that holy shrines in Qom and Mashhad will remain closed during these nights and after Ramadan (May 23), only the doors to outer space of the shrine may open to the public. However, with what Khamenei implied today, I guess we should wait for the decision to be overturned.
What makes this interesting, is not the lies the “Supreme Leader” has told, that’s business as usual. But the fact that in every single sentence, he used distinctive words to compare the conditions in Iran and the west, especially US!
In the same meeting, Khuzestan’s Governor reported the restrictions are back for 10 cities across the province, since the situation is getting worse! Ahvaz, Dezful and Masjid Soleyman, biggest cities in the province are on locked down until the end of the week (Friday) for now.
Tehran is not in a better situation. Ali Maher, deputy head of Tehran’s Corona Combating Committee said, “Infection is picking up again in Tehran Metropolitan area, including the capital.” He warned about the upcoming increase in the number of deaths in the weeks to come saying, “We should have stuck to the social distancing rules and not lift them prematurely.” He added, “People should not assume the crisis is over.”
Saeed Namaki, Health Minister, resonated Dr. Mohraz’s idea that this fall would be a very difficult one, because a mixture of flu and COVID-19 could have devastating effects in the country. On the other hand, he bragged about how good they have managed the crisis with no money,…and that we should see a better situation from Khordad, third month of Persian Year (May 21). This is the same rhetoric Islamic Republic officials have been claiming from weeks ago! But as it’s obvious, the crisis is not even close to over but in fact this could be the beginning of the second wave which according to experts could be worse and deadlier.
Velayati, head of Masih Daneshvari Hospital, one of the designated hospitals to COVID-19 patients in Tehran, said, “In peak days, we had 450-500 admissions per day, but it has gone down to about 77 cases these days.” He added, “10% of our personnel including physicians and nurses have contracted the disease.” In the same meeting, his deputy, Dr. Tabarsi, said, “We have about 70-100 cases every day in the past few days.” That’s 23 people difference in one meeting, one hospital, one city!
All of these points were mentioned in our daily reports but unfortunately, as it is obvious in Rouhani and other officials speeches, they have prioritized their grip on power over innocent lives lost due to their incompetence and mismanagement. The basic reproduction rate (R0), growth factors and graphs show the crisis is not even close to being under control even after 80 days!!
R0: 1.18
Total: 107,603 (+1,383)
Dead: 6,640 (+51)
Healed: 86,143
Critical: 2,681 (-15)
Admitted: 14,820 (+253)
Tests: 586,699 at 130 labs
Iran International Death Toll: 13,193 (Last updated on April 25)