Around 1AM local time on May 8, there was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in Tehran which caused many residents to hit the streets and spend the night outside, forgetting everything about Coronavirus for a few hours! In the meantime, another increase in the number of infected while there has been no change in the number of daily tests done, despite what Jahanpur claims that more active case finding is the cause of the jump in numbers. And this is the numbers they make up every day, let alone the real ones.
National Organization of Civil Registration had stopped providing annual death numbers by an order from National Corona Combating Committee! Today, probably after everything has been sifted through security and intelligence filters, they announced last winter’s death toll in the country. Comparing these with the corresponding months in the year before, reveals some interesting facts!
In the three northern provinces alone, Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan, there is a rise of 1,510, 931 and 598, respectively! This increase is in spite of decreased travels during Nowruz (Persian New Year) and 60% decline in car accident casualties. This difference is 747 for Qom! That’s 3,786 at only 4 of 31 provinces!
Farhad Abolnejadian, acting head of Ahvaz’s Jundishapur Medical University, protests against naming 10 cities of Khuzestan province as “white” zone. He said, “There are 10 cities of Khuzestan designated as the white zones but the number of cases in these cities doesn’t correspond to the “white area” definition! We sent our documents to the Ministry and they took off Omidiyeh from the list.” He continued, “There are 4 more cities from the list which must be removed from the list.” He added, “If mosques are reopened in white zones, social distancing must be obeyed and masks used.” He asked for the provincial officials to implement stricter measures. According to him, Ahvaz is in a bad shape and need serious attention. He said the university has sent its recommendations to the officials.
The second wave is here, regardless of how the government tries to cover it up, or how they want to “explain” it! The median estimate of basic Reproduction rate and growth factors remain above 1, indicating ongoing crisis.
R0: 1.19
Total: 104,691 (+1,556)
Dead: 6,541 (+55)
Healed: 83,837
Critical: 2,711 (-17)
Admitted: 14,313 (+408)
Tests: 558,899 at 130 labs
Iran International Death Toll: 13,193 (Last updated on April 25)
Cover: Barhram Bayat