Second Wave of Coronavirus in Tehran "Deadlier than the First"

Panic is setting in about the ability of hospitals across Iran to tackle the second wave of coronavirus infections. On Thursday, July 16, the deputy of Tehran’s Coronavirus Taskforce Reza Jalili warned that facilities in the capital were facing shortages of general medicine beds, ICU beds and medical staff. The second wave, he said, had hit Tehran in early June and had been much worse both in terms of the number of patients in a critical condition, and the number of fatalities. The current partial lockdown in Tehran, he said, would be extended for another week.

Universities of medical sciences in a number of provinces have echoed these concerns, saying they are facing shortages of oxygen concentrators, ICU beds and CT scan machines. But deputy health minister Ghasem Jan-Babaei insisted that Iran is fully-equipped in terms of hospital beds, medical equipment and protective gear. He did, however, concede that with the surge in new coronavirus cases, including among Iranian doctors and nurses, there are now a shortage of medical manpower.

PEN America Raises Alarm over Human Rights Activist’s Condition

In a statement issued on Thursday, July 16, PEN America called for the immediate release of the jailed human rights activist Narges Mohammadi , who is suffering from symptoms of Covid-19.

“The continued imprisonment of Narges Mohammadi despite her deteriorating health is cruel and life-threatening,” said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of PEN America’s Free Expression At Risk program. “Narges should never have been behind bars to begin with, but her possible infection with Covid-19 in Zanjan prison highlights the heightened risks political prisoners face during the pandemic, while the denial of medical care and the withholding of her test results represents a grave attack on prisoners’ rights.

“Given the gravity of her situation, we urge Iranian authorities to consider grant Mohammedi temporary release—as they have done with thousands of other inmates—so that she might be able to fully recover from the virus.”

Provinces Round-Up: Blind Spots in Official Tally of Critical Zones

In her daily briefing, health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari said the number of provinces coded “red” and “orange” in Iran have fallen to 12 and 13 respectively. But based on the health ministry's own criteria for the ratings, 17 provinces ought to be “red” and nine should be “orange”.

Dr. Sadat Lari reported that the number of coronavirus hospitalizations across the country were rising. She listed the provinces of Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Zanjan, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ilam, Bushehr, Razavi Khorasan, Golestan, Mazandaran and Hormozgan as those currently in a “red” state. Tehran, Fars, Ardebil, Isfahan, South Khorasan, Alborz, Sistan and Baluchistan, Kerman, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Lorestan, Hamedan, Yazd and North Khorasan were labelled “orange”.

But based on official figures, the four provinces of Tehran, Alborz, South Khorasan and Sistan and Baluchistan have been in a “red” state for some considerable time. Considering that 75 percent of Lorestan’s population live in “red” cities, the province is for all practical purposes “red” as well. And, according to Qom University of Medical Sciences itself, the city of Qom is currently in an “orange” state.

The province of Razavi Khorasan has demonstrably been “red” for more than a week. Mashhad University of Medical Sciences has asked the Coronavirus Taskforce to impose new restrictions to control the situation. On average, each day 220 new coronavirus patients are being hospitalized across the province, reported Ali Asghar Anjidani, secretary of the university’s Coronavirus Treatment Committee.

The number of infections in Isfahan province is also rising, albeit at a slow rate. But according to Dr. Tahereh Changiz, president of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, reported that the number of hospitalizations is also increasing and it is now close to 750 across the 22 cities of the province. If the number of patients in hospital passes 800, she warned, Isfahan’s medical system will have difficulty in handling the situation.

In Mazandaran province, approximately 30 percent of beds in hospitals run by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences have now been allocated to coronavirus patients. The number of hospitalizations in Mazandaran between July 6 and July 16 was six times what it was in the same 10-day period in June. As a consequence, on Thursday governor Ahmad Hossein Zadegan announced new measures to reduce the number of cars and the people on the streets: including conducting government business electronically, postponing non-urgent work in government offices, allowing government employees with underlying conditions to work remotely, and a lockdown of parks, reception halls and sports clubs.

More than 90 percent of beds allocated to coronavirus patients in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan have been filled, reported Dr. Mohammad Hashemi Shahri, president of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. He said the increase in the number of patients with acute respiratory syndrome has been “unimaginable”.

In Lorestan, 235 patients with coronavirus symptoms have been hospitalized in common wards and 105 have been sent to ICU wards, said Dr. Mohammad Reza Nikbakht, president of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. According to him, the situation in five major cities of the province is “red” – meaning that 75 percent of Lorestan’s population live in red zones.

Qom was the first epicenter of coronavirus in Iran. On April 16, once again, it became a “orange” zone and Bahram Sarmast, Qom’s governor, has warned that according to Qom University of Medical Sciences the situation is likely to worsen over the next week as and 50 percent of coronavirus tests have been positive. Weddings and mourning ceremonies have been banned in Qom until further notice.

Infections in Ardebil province are also still on the rise. In recent days, more medical personnel have been infected as well, reported Dr. Shahram Habibzadeh, president of Ardebil University of Medical Sciences. The cities of Ardebil, Namin and Nir, where 55 percent of province’s population live, are now coded “red”. Of the 274 coronavirus patients in hospital in Ardebil, 43 are being cared for in ICUs.

According to Dr. Sadat Lari, in the past 24 hours 2,500 new patients have tested positive for coronavirus, of whom 1,914 have been hospitalized. The official tally of infections in Iran now stands at 267,061. And, with the death of 198 patients in the same 24 hours, the official version of the death toll now stands at 13,608.