Rise in Covid-19 Cases Among Children

An Iranian medical official has announced a rise in the number of children dying from Covid-19, sparking fear about the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. 

“The number of infections among children is rising and this is troubling,” said Hossein Kermanpour, director of the emergency ward at Tehran’s Sina Hospital, on October 2. “As of now, more than 30,000 people under 18 have been infected with coronavirus and close to 300 of them have died.”

Abolfazl Mozaffari, a specialist in pulmonary diseases in Qom, has predicted that toward the start of November, Iran will witness simultaneous waves of coronavirus and flu. “Influenza and coronavirus are both respiratory system diseases but the difference is that coronavirus has 10 times more chance of spreading among the people than the flu,” he said.

Kermanpour agreed with Mozaffari, adding: “The consequences of today’s negligence will become clear next month, and so will the results of reopening schools,” he said. “Up to now, most of the coronavirus fatalities have occurred among people with underlying diseases, the elderly, reckless young people and so on. Both the government and the people must find a way to contain coronavirus because the fall season is going to be horrible.”

Eleven days into autumn, the cold weather is slowly arriving in various parts of Iran. Every year the cold brings influenza with it, but this year it is accompanied by the uninvited lethal guest coronavirus. In the last 11 days, more than 2,000 people have lost their lives to the pandemic and there are predictions that if serious measures are not taken to contain coronavirus, the number will rise considerably in the coming weeks.

The number of daily fatalities might rise to 600 or 700, warned Dr. Minoo Moharez, a member of the National Coronavirus Taskforce’s Scientific Committee. “Logically, when the number of patients, especially those in critical condition, rises we must expect the number of Covid-19 deaths to rise as well,” she said. “Of course, now the medical staff are more experienced and patients in critical condition might recover after a few days in the intensive care units (ICUs), but even now the number of fatalities is high because the number of infections is high.”

Provinces Round-up

It was reported that 1,559 industrial workers in Zanjan province had been infected with coronavirus but, claimed Mohammad Reza Yousefi, director general of Zanjan Social Welfare Organization, none have died as of October 2.

The situation in Tehran has been deteriorating, warned Jalil Kouhpayeh, president of Iran University of Medical Sciences. “There are close to 170 private and state hospitals in Tehran, of which 105 are treating coronavirus patients,” he said. “In the last 10 days we have had more than 4,000 outpatients at hospitals and more than 10,000 at full-service clinics. Compared to previous days the number of hospitalizations has increased.”

Ilam province is dealing with an unprecedented number of hospitalizations and, according to Jamil Sadeghifar, vice president of Ilam University of Medical Sciences, had its worst day since the coronavirus outbreak on October 2, with 180 hospitalizations. To control the situation, he said, restrictions must be imposed on public places such as offices, shopping centers and sports arenas for at least two weeks.

Mehdi Ahmadi, Cultural Vice President of the Fatemeh Shrine in Qom, reported that because of the surge in coronavirus cases, religious ceremonies inside both the courtyard and enclosed spaces at the shrine will not be allowed until further notice.

In her daily briefing for October 2, the health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the last 24 hours.

Dr. Lari also reported that, of the 31 Iranian provinces currently 30 provinces are in a high state of alert.

This is part of IranWire's coronavirus chronology. Read the full chronology