Concerns about the sixth wave of COVID-19 in Iran grow and more provinces join the list of “high risk” areas. According to Gilan officials, no more “blue” (lowest risk in flawed “coloring map” of the Islamic Republic) cities exist in the province. Dr. Mehrabian announced the sixth wave is shaping up in the northern province. Hospitalizations have surpassed the recoveries in Mazandaran hospitals, and head of medical university in the province requests that people do not travel to the northern region. East Azerbaijan has 2 cities in “red” category and the officials are worried about the sixth wave. Fars continues to get closer to critical situation.
Dr. Vejgani, member of Scientific Committee of National COVID-19 Task Force, confirmed the sixth wave is here and rebuked the government for having “multiple centers making decisions!” The immunologist emphasized that the “multiple voices” have caused many problems and could make things worse by contradictory comments and orders. He reiterated other experts’ points that schools could not be reopened prematurely and locals should decide about their schools, a “blanket order will not work.” As remote working across the country, including Tehran, has ended, Dr. Vejgani criticized the premature decision since “public transportation is the hotbed for the virus!” He expressed his regrets for the rash actions and said, “nothing could be done now, but to tell people to follow protocols!”
While the Chinese Sinopharm has been proven to be ineffective against the Delta variant, Islamic Republic Health Minister claims vaccination could prevent death completely: “Inoculation will prevent death by COVID-19 by 100%!” However, after the Shiraz study was released, the Ministry of Health claimed Sinopharm reduces death by 87%. Eynollahi also insists that schools must reopen by mid-November. About 60% of students 12-17 years old have received 1 shot of the unapproved Sinopharm for the age range.
According to official data, total of 80,406,788 shots have been administered in Iran since February 9, while only 29,503,783 (35.12% of population) have received both doses of these vaccines.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 171 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 9,174 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 300,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 2.04
Total: 5,860,844 (+9,174)
Dead: 125,223 (+171)
Recovered: 5,416,691
Critical: 4,294 (-52)
Active Cases: 318,930 (-4,823)
Total Tests: 34,765,163
Cover: Vahid Khademi
