Cosmetic Surgery Banned in Iran as Provinces Still Racked by Coronavirus

Iran has banned cosmetic surgery in a bid to free up hospital beds – a full six months after the coronavirus pandemic began.

In a letter to the heads of Iran’s state-run medical science universities, deputy health minister Ghasem Jan-Babaei ordered the cancellation of all planned cosmetic surgeries, from fillers to tummy tucks, until further notice “due to the requirement to manage hospital beds”. Some types of non-cosmetic plastic surgery – such as skin grafts or the correction of cleft lips – are for now exempt.

The instructions, issued on July 14, coincided with an announcement by senior deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi that deaths from Covid-19 now account for one-fifth of all daily deaths in Iran. According to him, of the approximately 1,050 people who die in Iran every day, about 200 are presently Covid-19 patients. 

The latest doctored statistics announced by Dr. Sima Sadat Lari on July 14 indicated that 2,521 new cases had been identified in the preceding 24 hours, of whom 1,820 had been hospitalized. In that time, 179 Covid-19 patients were said to have died, increasing the official death toll in Iran to 13,211.

Meanwhile, as Iran is now demonstrably going through a second wave of coronavirus, chief justice Gholamreza Esmaili has also empowered prisons to grant leaves of absence to prisoners. Considering that many political prisoners, including those who have already been infected with coronavirus, have already been denied leaves of absence, this gesture seems ridiculously hollow.

Contradictory Statements Muddy the Waters over Tehran “Lockdown”

Confusion abounds over what exactly what restrictions are now in place in the capital. On the night of July 13, Ali Ata, Tehran City Council’s spokesman, reported that a cluster of restrictions – including a lockdown of schools, universities, educational centers, coffee shops and reception halls – would come into effect for one week in Tehran and “red” cities in 10 other provinces.

But on July 14, the governor of Tehran province, Anooshirvan Mohseni Bandpey, countered that such measures can only be announced by the Coronavirus Combat Taskforce and schools and universities would remain open. The only activities banned in Tehran for a week, according to him, are sporting ones – especially body-building gyms and contact sports, and indoor swimming – and gatherings such as wedding and morning ceremonies and conferences. How an activity can be “especially” banned is anyone’s guess.

Shortly afterwards, in a move that roundly suggested Tehran-based officials were making up policy as they went along, his deputy Hamidreza Goodarzi intervened to add other location-specific lockdowns  to the emergency list, including entertainment centers, zoos, coffee shops, cafés and reception halls.

Provinces Round-Up: New Cases Show Situation is Not Under Control

The number of provinces in Iran coded “red” or “orange” in terms of their infection rate has climbed back up to 25 out of 31. According to health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari, the provinces of Khuzestan, Ilam, Bushehr, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Razavi Khorasan, Zanjan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Golestan, Mazandaran and Hormozgan are in a “red” state and provinces of Tehran, Fars, Ardebil, Isfahan, Alborz, south Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchistan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Lorestan, Hamedan, Yazd and North Khorasan are currently rated “orange”.

The rate of hospitalizations in Tehran, however, show that contrary to what Dr. Sadat Lari has said, the Iranian capital should no longer be rated “orange” but “red”. The same goes for Alborz. By omitting these two from the critical list, the government is likely trying to project an image of control and resist the need for a more stringent lockdown of the capital.

In Alborz province in particular, the situation is critical. In the past 48 hours 50 people in this province alone have lost their lives to Covid-19, said its governor, Azizollah Shahbazi. He also reported that on July 12 and 13, 1,083 and 800 people respectively attended hospitals with suspected Covid-19. Even small cities in the province, he claimed, should be classified as “red” and hospitals do not have the bed capacity they need.

Fars province is rated “orange”. Mehrzad Lotfi, president of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, has warned about the spiralling number of pregnant women infected with coronavirus. His deputy Ali Akbari also said the number of cases and fatalities in the province is on the ruse. At the time of writing on July 14, there were reportedly 609 suspected Covid patients in general hospital wards across the province and another 91 on ICU wards.

In Amol, a city in Mazandaran province that has now been declared a “red” zone, 330 coronavirus patients are hospitalized. This is one-third of all Covid-19 patients in the province. In the past 24 hours another 264 people were hospitalized across Mazandaran, bringing the total in the province to 1,081: at least four times the figure a month ago.

Six cities in Lorestan province are in a “red” state and infections in this province are also picking up speed, warned Mohammad Reza Nikbakht, the president of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Given that the other five cities and the province itself are presently rated “orange” the situation could soon become critical, he said.

The southern province of Khuzestan is now in its eighth week of “red” alert. A drop in the overall number of infections does not mean that the province is in the clear, said Mohammad Alavi, the president of Ahvaz Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences, adding that it is not clear when the critical situation in Khuzestan will end.