The 2 week lockdown of Tehran and some other big cities is getting traction among officials. However, there’s a big caveat. According to health experts, if the lockdown is not enforced properly, it could only cost the country even more economical issues and the coronavirus will not be contained! Deputy head of Tehran Corona Combating Committee said the 2 week plan to lock down Tehran completely is in final stages. In this plan all business activities and traveling will be banned. On the other hand, Deputy Health Minister Harirchi says if nothing is done, the number of deaths and cases would double in the next 2-3 weeks. COVID-19 seems unstoppable in Iran.
In the meantime, Sima Sadat Lari reported 11,737 new cases of COVID-19 and 461 deaths in the past 24 hours. She admitted the 6PM curfew is not being enforced as it should be and asked the authorities to be stricter! However, people who don’t follow the protocols have justified reasons. One says, “who would be paying for my rent if I close down at 6PM?” The other one says, “The government should consider some kind of relief or stimulus, otherwise we will die of hunger.” Another Tehran resident asked the government to do their job properly and close down everything for 2 weeks with some sort of support for families.
The country remains in critical condition. Khuzestan, Fars, Lorestan, Yazd, Isfahan,… all report a new uptrend in their provinces. An official at Ministry of Health admits pressure on healthcare staff has caused unimaginable impact on the increasing number of cases and deaths. Exhausted nurses has been one of the main concerns for more than 9 months but the Ministry hasn’t still lift any load off their shoulders. In fact, with wrong decisions and their trial and error approach, they have made the situation worse for hospital workers.
Basic Reproduction Rate (R0) continues to rise, pointing towards the worsening COVID-19 crisis in Iran. Graphs depict the 3 waves Iranians have endured so far while Islamic Republic has been waiting for a miracle. However, today, Harirchi made it clear: “There’s no miracle to defeat coronavirus, but prevention.” In the meantime, the number of tests has decreased second day in a row, with increasing positivity rate! Active and critical cases keep soaring. The number of hospitalizations in a day has broken records with 6,200!
R0: 2.68
Total: 738,322 (+11,737)
Dead: 40,582 (+461)
Recovered: 546,642
Critical: 5,630 (+16)
Admitted: 151,098 (+6,200)
Tests: 5,424,479 (6.5% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Maryam Ebrahimeh
