Director of Public Relations Office at Iran Medical Board expressed his concern over possible brain damage and other damages to the patients dependent on oxygen and in ICUs due to blackouts. Dr. Kermanpour warned that even a few seconds could harm patients. The emergency doctor also said the old and outdated infrastructure of hospitals could play a role in this chain reaction. According to him, widespread blackouts may break multi-million dollar hospital equipment which are difficult to replace due to budget issues. He added, this is the situation in metropolitan areas where hospitals are equipped with backup generators but not all hospitals across the country are so! He reiterated COVID-19 patients on oxygen at home are frightened of their situation as well. He demanded the electricity company to cooperate and coordinate with hospitals and clinics about the blackouts.
Health Minister warned about the fifth wave of coronavirus due to Indian and South African variants again! While he had downplayed the Indian strain before, he asked the “elections committee” to be mindful of the next wave caused by a virus “called Indian virus.” Saeed Namaki confirmed new cases of coronavirus have entered from Iraq with false negative PCR tests. Islamic Republic Health Minister ordered Dr. Alireza Raisi, his Deputy in Public Health to have all passengers from Iraq to be tested in Iran again. In his letter, he mentioned the patients have flown from Iraq to Mashhad!
In the meantime, 2 new cases of Indian coronavirus variant have been identified in Khorramshahr, Khuzestan, whom according to officials have entered the province from Fars! Hormozgan officials recorded a “significant growth in number of COVID-19 deaths” in the province. Hormozgan Medical University Spokesperson sounded the alarm for the spread of Indian and South African variants in the province and reported 22 “very critical” COVID-19 cases.
In the past 16 months, hospital workers have been protesting the government for their overdue wages and benefits, long shifts and unimaginable working conditions. But unfortunately, every time a bandaid was applied and the cycle continues. This time, staff of “Imam Khomeini” hospital in Karaj took it to the streets.
Vaccination remains a major concern for Iranians while regime officials continue their empty promises. Saeed Namaki, once again, promised to complete vaccination of all vulnerable groups comprised of about 14 million and start the mass immunization by June 22. He also said by then domestic COVID-19 vaccines will be rolled out. According to official data of Ministry of Health, since February 9, only 470,568 (0.56% of population) have been fully vaccinated and 3,146,062 shots are administered.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Mokhber, head of “Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order,” responsible for developing COVIran Barekat, the first “Iranian vaccine” entering the market, claimed 800,000 to 1 million doses of the vaccine are ready but since the rollout is not allowed yet, they have slowed down the production. At the same time, he asserted in the next 1-1.5 months, 4-5million doses will be ready! He did not provide any details or results of clinical trials but said “the vaccine has passed all phases of clinical trials with great results.”
On the other hand, Secretary General of Iran Red Crescent Society said 7.5million doses of vaccines, mainly Chinese Sinopharm, will arrive in Iran by June 22. Ghousian-moghadam did not provide further details. Sinopharm has been criticized even by the Chinese CDC and have been called as the most unsafe COVID-19 vaccine with 73 complications!
Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 208 died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24 hours and 11,873 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Sima Sadat Lari did not provide specific variants information. The official data show another spike in cases for the 3rd day in a row. Iran Medical Board authorities estimate the real number of cases and deaths are at least 3 times higher than what is reported. As seen on the graphs, the fourth wave of coronavirus is not over yet, despite Islamic Republic officials’ claims.
R0: 3.37
Total: 2,855,396 (+11,873)
Dead: 79,056 (+208)
Recovered: 2,362,428
Critical: 4,695 (-58)
Active Cases: 413,912 (-3,011)
Tests: 19,185,933 (22.8% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Ahmad Zohrabi : Intermittent power cuts caused fire in a shoe shop in Qom
