As hospitals try to deal with the surge in patients flow, Islamic Republic officials are busy preparing people for worse news and days yet to come! According to “official” stats which only covers PCR tested cases with manipulation of data, all daily records have been broken. 4,830 new cases and 279 deaths were reported by Sima Sadat Lari. The Ministry of Health Spokesperson also announced the same 30 provinces in critical condition, blaming people for not following the “protocols”. She also announced travel ban “to” or “from” 5 metropolitan areas: Tehran, Karaj, Uromiyeh, Isfahan and Mashhad! The ban only includes personal cars and is based on the plates or national ID cards. The ban starts from midnight until noon on Sunday, which is the end of long weekend!
The ban doesn’t include public transport or Tehran to/from Karaj! It also doesn’t cover northern provinces, Golestan, Mazandaran and Gilan where most travelers would go! On the other hand, those metropolitan areas, except Tehran, are not quarantined or locked down. While this travel ban could be helpful in lowering the spread of the virus, it might also cause gatherings in the cities where the protocols against gatherings are not enforced.
Iraj Harirchi, Deputy Health Minister, announced “depending on the province, real number of deaths could be as high as 2.2 times what is reported daily!” He said, “I should be honest, coronavirus causes 25% of annual deaths in Iran, and what we report are only PCR tested cases.” It’s worth noting, only 6% of Iran population have been tested, assuming each test has been performed on just 1 person.
Furthermore, Dr Zali, head of Corona Committee in Tehran, admitted yesterday was the worst day of Tehran in 8 months of the epidemic with the most number of deaths. He didn’t mention how many have died. However, he said “in the 253 days since the epidemic began”, while according to officials, it’s been 240 days since it was announced in Iran. It has been established that the regime has lied about the timing of when COVID-19 first reached the country.
On the other hand, Raisi, Deputy Health Minister in Health Affairs, said people’s cooperation has reached 42% and anything under 80% is not effective! The government has devised plans to fine people who don’t wear masks in Tehran public areas but when it’s not enforced, there’s no use! When there was plenty of times to pre-plan a proper lockdown across the country, or not lift the restrictions prematurely, the Islamic Republic went against all logic and now it seems it’s too late. People have been desensitized with fake numbers, lies about becoming self-sufficient in hospital equipment and test kits, allowing religious gatherings, schools reopening, and this list goes on!
Hospitals continue to struggle with shortage of beds and equipment, their staff are burnt out and there’s no budget to pay the current staff, let alone hire fresh employees. However, the President of Islamic Republic is happy “arms embargo is over” on Sunday and “we can buy and sell arms from whoever we want.”
Active cases keep rising while critical cases have broken records. Testing remains in the same range. Basic Reproduction Rate (R0), the best indicator for virus spread, increased 2 more points. R0 together with graphs have predicted these gloomy days and continue showing ongoing human catastrophe in Iran. Even an official confirmed today that “it’s not know how long coronavirus will be with us,” at the same time, head of a hospital in Tehran said “we don’t have any more beds to admit patients.”
R0: 1.77
Total: 513,219 (+4,830)
Dead: 29,349 (+279)
Healed: 414,831
Critical: 4,609 (+39)
Admitted: 69,039 (+1,560)
Tests: 4,398,723 (6.1% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Abbas Monajemi Gilani
