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Iranians Ignore Coronavirus Rules as Hospital Beds Fill Up

October 22, 2020
Pouyan Khoshhal
4 min read
Many hospitals in Iran have already run out of beds for coronavirus patients
Many hospitals in Iran have already run out of beds for coronavirus patients
According to official statistics, an average of more than 300 coronavirus patients have died each day over the last few days
According to official statistics, an average of more than 300 coronavirus patients have died each day over the last few days

The coronavirus crisis in Iran has now engulfed the whole country, including small towns and rural regions. Everywhere has been hard hit by the pandemic. Hospitals are running out of beds, or already have. Infections within families are on the rise, with entire households having to be hospitalized. As patients arrive at hospitals, many of them have to wait for beds to become available. According to official statistics, an average of more than 300 coronavirus patients have died each day over the last few days.

In Iran’s capital the crisis is getting worse every day. Dr. Alireza Zali, director of the Tehran Coronavirus Taskforce, reported that health workers are exhausted and Tehran is facing a shortage of medical manpower. He also reported that police officers have begun stepping in to enforce the greater restrictions. However, despite the fact that the taskforce approved lockdowns and fines for people who violate regulations imposed to tackle the spread of coronavirus more than three weeks ago, little has been done to enforce these decisions. Even government agencies have refused to enforce them, opting for “guiding” people by issuing warnings.

“In other countries, when a person tests positive for coronavirus he is kept under surveillance so that he will not break quarantine, but here he is released immediately after he is tested positive,” said Dr. Mostafa Ghanei, chairman of the National Coronavirus Taskforce’s Scientific Committee, in a TV interview.

The public have tended to ignore the restrictions announced by the National Coronavirus Taskforce and the Rouhani administration. In mid-October it was announced that during the three-day holiday weekend five metropolitan areas, including Tehran, would be quarantined and travelers would not be allowed to leave or enter these metropolitan areas but, in practice, the measure was not enforced and it contributed little to reducing the number of travelers. Judging by statements issued by some officials, this behavior was expected.

We have always advised against holiday traveling under these difficult conditions and, God willing, we will have a plan for next week,” said Mahmoud Vaezi, a government spokesman. The plan was due to be discussed on October 22 and October 23 as part of meetings between President Rouhani and various committees of the National Coronavirus Taskforce.

 

Provinces Round-up

According to Dr. Ali Maher, a deputy director of Tehran Coronavirus Taskforce, more people in Tehran are being admitted to the hospitals than are released. “There can be no doubt that Tehran is going to face a serious problem in hospitalizing new coronavirus patients,” he said. “Of course, setting up field hospitals is not [yet] on the taskforce’s agenda, but such hospitals could be used if the need arises and the situation becomes more critical.”

In recent days some health experts have said that the actual number of coronavirus fatalities is at least two times higher than the official figures. “That is what is happening in Isfahan, and our statistics about coronavirus deaths are among the most accurate in the country, whereas many provinces only announce fatality figures for patients who have tested positive,” said Behrouz Kalidari, vice president of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. “From the very beginning we tried to register and announce figures that include patients whom the doctors have diagnosed as suspected cases even if their PCR [polymerase chain reaction] tests have returned negative.”

Based on these figures, since the epidemic started, more than 42,000 coronavirus patients have been hospitalized in Isfahan and approximately 4,600 have died. In the 24-hour period spanning October 20 and October 21, approximately 300 new Covid-19 patients were hospitalized in Isfahan, the same as the average daily number for the last three weeks. “Every day we lose an average of 35 patients — 18 if we only count those who have tested positive,” said Kalidari. “Last week, however, this figure reached 40.”

Coronavirus infections in the cities of Abadan, Khorramshahr, and Shadegan in Khuzestan province are on the rise, and the ICU ward at Abadan Hospital is full, according to Dr. Shokrollah Salmanzadeh, president of Abadan University of Medical Sciences. “It  has no beds left for treating Covid-19 patients in a critical condition. “Only if a patient who has been in critical condition recovers will we be able to provide an ICU bed for another patient.”

In her daily briefing for October 21, the health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the last 24 hours:

Iranians Ignore Coronavirus Rules as Hospital Beds Fill Up

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

Iranians Ignore Coronavirus Rules as Hospital Beds Fill Up

 

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

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