Iran: Coronavirus death toll in 343 cities exceeds 70,800

In an unprecedented move, regime’s Health Ministry declared 25 provinces on red or alert

• The scale of the tragedy in Tehran is such that despite Rouhani’s initial objections, Tehran municipality announced new restrictions for a week
• Deputy Health Minister: Due to the large number of patients, the number of 16-hour medical centers in Tehran increased from 30 to 94 centers last week.
• All five Amol hospitals are involved in Coronavirus patients. Four hospitals are about to be full. The situation is gradually bypassing the city health centers’ capacity.
• Entrance to three major cemeteries in Mashhad has been closed until further notice. Many medical staff have been infected, and the pressure on others is very high.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) announced on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, that the Coronavirus death toll in 343 cities of Iran is more than 70,800. The number of victims in Tehran is 17,630, Khuzestan 5,310, Isfahan 3,350, Lorestan 2,620, Sistan and Baluchestan 2,190, Golestan 1,795 Kerman 925, Qazvin 580, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari 470.

The scale of the tragedy in Tehran is such that, despite initial opposition from Rouhani and other regime leaders, last night, Tehran municipality “announced new restrictions on the city of Tehran for a week.” Accordingly, “all universities, seminaries, technical and vocational schools, language institutes and other schools and libraries, as well as cinemas, theaters, etc., will be closed. Also, holding any social, cultural, religious ceremonies, and conferences is forbidden.”

In state-controlled statistics announced by the spokesperson for the regime’s Health Ministry, she put the number of victims in the last 24 hours at 179 and the number of patients at the “Intensive Care Units” at 3,389, and for the first time in recent months declared 25 provinces in a state of red or alert. “The provinces of East and West Azerbaijan, Ilam, Bushehr, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Zanjan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Golestan, Mazandaran, and Hormozgan are red,” she said. The provinces of Tehran, Fars, Ardabil, Isfahan, Alborz, South Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Kerman, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Lorestan, Hamedan, Yazd, and North Khorasan are also on alert,” reported the official news agency, ISNA, today.

Iraj Harirchi, deputy Health Minister, told IRNA news agency today, “One-fifth of the country’s daily deaths are related to Coronavirus, and this is a serious and alarming issue … About 1,050 people die every day in the country, more than 200 of which are Coronavirus patients.”

In Tehran, Ali Reza Raisi, the regime’s Deputy Health Minister, told IRNA, today, “In Tehran, we first had about fifty 16-hour health centers, but due to the reduction of cases, it was reduced to 40 and then 30 centers. Last week, these centers were increased to 94 centers.” In another development, Alireza Zali, head of the National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce (NCCT) in Tehran, told the same news agency, today, “Over the last ten days, all indicators, including the incidence rate, the number of outpatients, positive-test cases, and hospitalization in normal and ICU wards, have been growing.” Speaking to IRNA, he had also said yesterday, “The amount of infectious waste in Tehran has increased from 2,000 tons to 7,000 tons per day.”

ISNA wrote today, “In Kerman Province, two people died every five hours in the past 23 days…. The alarm bells are sounding louder and louder. In the past three days, 37 people have died due to Coronavirus.” The president of the Medical Sciences University in Sirjan told ISNA yesterday, “The trend of increase in Coronavirus patients has been such that now the two hospitals in the city are full.”

In Mazandaran, the head of Amol’s Health Network told IRNA today, “All five hospitals in the city are dealing with COVID-19 patients. Four hospitals are nearing full capacity. The situation is gradually getting out of hand for the city’s treatment centers… The medical personnel are fatigued, and because they passed through the first peak, they are completely exhausted. This city needs new personnel immediately.” The province’s Director-General for Blood Transfusion also told IRNA today, “The spread of Coronavirus has caused a 15 percent drop in blood donations since the start of the year.”

In Fars, the vice-president of Shiraz Medical Sciences University told Entekhab yesterday, “In the past two days, the number fatalities due to COVID-19 has taken at a rapid pace. One person dies every two hours.”

In Bushehr, the governor of Genaveh was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying, yesterday, “The number of patients and deaths has increased, and the hospital is full.”

In Khorasan Razavi, the vice president of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences told Astan Razavi TV, “On average, 231 Coronavirus patients are admitted daily to the centers under the auspices of the university. Entry to Behesht-e Reza, Rezvan, and Javad al-A’imah cemeteries has been blocked until further notice … Many of our staff are infected, which puts pressure on the rest of the staff. Every day, many personnel are on sick leave, and the rest must fill-in for them.”

The state-run newspaper Setareh Sobh wrote today, “These days, government and charitable hospitals in Tehran, Mashhad, Karaj, and other big cities are full of patients who are mostly not in a good financial position and cannot receive proper nutrition and essential vitamins to prevent Coronavirus. So, it can be said that Coronavirus has become a disease of the poor and the lower classes… The government is to blame for the current situation due to the removal of restrictions and pretending that the situation is normal. If it wants to contain the disease right now, it needs to shut down the country for one month.”

Today, the Khamenei-affiliated Resalat newspaper also criticized Rouhani’s government, saying, “The government still does not have a serious plan to deal with this disease. In the first wave of the Coronavirus, it did not have a calculated plan for this disease. Now that different dimensions of this disease have become apparent, and we have entered the second wave of the outbreak, again the economy, guilds, and jobs are suffering as a result of the lack of government’s planning.”

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

July 14, 2020