COVID-19 continues to rage through Iran with nothing to stop it. According to Deputy Health Minister in Treatment Affairs, 15% of hospitals’ beds are occupied by coronavirus patients, and up to 50% of ICU beds throughout the country! Sima Sadat Lari announced 8,011 new cases of COVID-19 in the country while 365 have passed away from the virus. 5,128 are admitted into ICUs, 73 more than yesterday. Based on what Jan Babaei had said, there must be more than 10,250 ICU beds in the country. However, according to Ministry of Health officials, there are about 6,000! Either almost 90% of intensive care units across the country are full or there are about 5,000 patients in need of critical care without a bed!
The entire country remains in critical condition. Tehran officials have agreed to lock down the capital for 2 weeks and are waiting for the National Task Force to authorize the closure. The Task Force will convene its weekly meeting tomorrow, presided by the President of Islamic Republic! Hopefully, the decision won’t be postponed to “next Saturday.”
Head of Civil Registration Organization reported 241,598 deaths in the first 4 months of Persian calendar (late March- late July), 90,000 more than the year before in the same time-frame. It’s worth noting, according to officials, number of deaths due to car accidents has declined up to 40% from the same time last year. Another proof that coronavirus have taken many more lives than what Ministry of Health reports every day. Officials have admitted the stats could be between 2.2 to 4 times higher than what’s announced.
Vice President Jahangiri asks the Interior Minister to follow up and find the people responsible for the Mashhad gathering which was headlines of major media outlets for days. Ministry of Health Spokesperson called it a “true crime” and Mashhad Medical University called it “factory of the disease.” However, Jahangiri failed to mention any details and it seems like it’s just a stunt to “have done something.”
Basic Reproduction Rate (R0) rises another point while the graphs show the ever growing number of active cases. Testing remains in the 35,000 range per day, which is still a fraction of the population.
R0: 2.06
Total: 604,952 (+8,011)
Dead: 34,478 (+365)
Healed: 477,003
Critical: 5,128 (+73)
Admitted: 93,471 (+3,241)
Tests: 4,892,704 (6.2% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
