Iran: Coronavirus Death Toll in 342 Cities Surpasses 69,800

Over 69,800 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran-Iran Coronavirus Death Toll per PMOI MEK sources

• Iraj Harirchi, Deputy Health Minister: Coronavirus infection and mortality in the fall and winter will be much worse than spring and summer. 

• Member of Tehran City Council: With the daily hospitalization of more than 600 new Coronavirus patients and death of 70 people on average, the critical situation of Coronavirus’s second peak in Tehran is obvious. 

• The head of the planning of the National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce (NCCT) in Tehran: More than 50,000 to 60,000 people may die because of Coronavirus in Iran 

• Golestan Governor: The capacity of the health centers in the east of the Province has been completed, and a field hospital may be set up for east of Golestan.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Sunday, July 12, 2020, that the Coronavirus death toll in 342 cities in Iran is more than 69,800. The number of victims in Tehran is 17,750, Khorasan Razavi 5,250, Khuzestan 5,245, Lorestan 2,530, Sistan and Baluchestan 2,155, West Azerbaijan 2,070, Golestan 1,760, Hamedan 1,745, Fars 1,610, Kurdistan 1,390, and Kerman 880.

After four months, the shocking number of Coronavirus mortalities finally compelled the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to reflect on the issue at the end of his speech addressing parliament deputies. In a bid to curb the ongoing infighting, he said, “The re-emergence of Coronavirus and the daily death of a large number of patients is truly tragic.” But like Rouhani, he blamed the people, and complained that “some people don’t even do simple things like using masks.” He called on “service groups and everyone” to “do their best to cut the chain of transmission in the short term.” However, Khamenei could easily have prevented this massive humanitarian catastrophe, which is growing every day, by providing the living expenses of the workers and laborers from the foundations under his control and that of the IRGC.

In another development, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi told IRGC’s mouthpiece Javan on July 11, “Based on the latest predictions, the situation surrounding the infection and death due to Coronavirus will be much worse in autumn and winter compared to spring and summer. No short-term nor mid-term hope, (less than a year) exist for manufacturing a vaccine.”

In Tehran, a member of the City Council was quoted by Khabar-e Fori as saying today, “With more than 600 new patients being hospitalized and another 70 dead on the average every day, the critical conditions for the second peak of COVID-19 is apparent. Despite 18 provinces being in the state of red, the situation is managed as though we are in a post-Coronavirus situation. The fact Iran has the third-highest Coronavirus casualties in the past week attests to this reality.”

Hossein Qana’ati, a member of the planning office in the NCCT in Tehran, warned, “It is possible that more than 50 to 60 thousand people lose their lives in Iran due to Coronavirus,” according to Khabar-e Fori yesterday. He added, “With the delay in imposing a quarantine, we lost a precious three to four weeks. The first wave is not over yet. The second wave will come in the fall, and it may be much more deadly. The high rate of infection among the medical and service staff and personnel has caused shortages in hospitals. This has caused the closure of some wards and operating rooms in hospitals. On the macro level, there has been a lack of coordination and mismanagement regarding some decisions, which cannot be denied.”

Payam Tabarsi from Masih Daneshvari Hospital told the state TV’s Shabak-e Khabar, yesterday, “In April, the number of referrals to the emergency was 100 per day, today we have 350 such referrals.”

The governor of Golestan Province told Mehr news agency yesterday, “The capacity of health centers in the eastern part of the Province is fully used. If this trend continues, … we may need to set up field hospitals.” The vice-president of the Medical Sciences University in the Province also told the Tasnim website today, “The situation in all cities in the Province is red… The existing beds in the hospitals do not meet the Province’s needs any more…In a city like Gonbad Kavus, all hospital beds are occupied, and the Coronavirus patients are reluctantly sent to the nearby cities, and even to Gorgan.”

ISNA quoted the president of the Medical Sciences University in Gilan Province as saying today that the number of patients admitted to the hospitals of the Province had reached 300.

Mehr news agency reported from West Azerbaijan yesterday, “The number of infections and deaths is increasing day by day…Fully occupied beds of Taleqani and Khomeini hospitals in Urmia, allocating a third hospital for the Coronavirus patients, setting up a field hospital, the significant increase of the fatalities per day, and the rising number of the critically ill patients hospitalized in the ICU wards of the hospitals clearly show the deplorable situation of the Province.”

ISNA cited the president of the University of Medical Sciences in Alborz Province as saying today, “It is predicted that the second wave of the Coronavirus will be much stronger than the first wave. Sadly, we are witnessing deaths and infections among kids in some provinces.”

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

July 12, 2020