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Special Features

Medical Expert: The Government Pushed for Herd Immunity

November 30, 2020
Pouyan Khoshhal
3 min read
For the second day in a row, the number of confirmed coronavirus fatalities in Iran fell below 400
For the second day in a row, the number of confirmed coronavirus fatalities in Iran fell below 400
Health Minister Saeed Namaki warned the Iranian people not to assume that the situation is back to normal just because the number of fatalities was going down
Health Minister Saeed Namaki warned the Iranian people not to assume that the situation is back to normal just because the number of fatalities was going down

A medical specialist in Tehran has said that until very recently, Iran’s health ministry had advocated the “very unscientific” policy of herd immunity, a dangerous move that had cost the lives of many. Dr. Mohammad Reza Hashemian, an ICU specialist at Tehran’s Masih Daneshvari Hospital, said the main reason Iran and Turkey had such different fatality figures is that Turkey imposed quarantines and lockdowns early, while Iran “was a believer in herd immunity.”

He said the ministry had now changed tack and did not anticipate any clashes or “pressures” regarding vaccines.

After Reza Malekzadeh, a deputy health minister, resigned, health minister Namaki accused him of promoting the “unscientific idea” of herd immunity, suggesting Namazi himself had not supported the approach.

On Sunday, November 29, for the second day in a row, the number of confirmed coronavirus fatalities in Iran was below 400. Figures also suggest the restrictions and lockdowns brought in on November 21 were having some effect on the rate of infections. Nevertheless, health minister Saeed Namaki warned the Iranian people not to assume that the situation was back to normal. He said hospitals were struggling to quarantine coronavirus patients from other patients due to limited space. “We need about 40,000 convalescence beds in hotels, hostels and dormitories,” he said.

 

Dormitory Students to Be Tested

By the order of the health ministry, universities of medical sciences in Iran have been required to conduct coronavirus tests on all college students as they prepare to leave college dormitories and return to their homes. The ministry ordered that if tests were positive, infected students must be quarantined in accommodation provided by the university. Students who test positive will also be banned from traveling.

Dormitory students who are currently not attending classes because of the two-week lockdowns across many cities in Iran are also banned from traveling unless they test negative for coronavirus.

 

Air Pollution Increases Coronavirus Fatalities

“An increase of one microgram of pollutants in one cubic meter of air can lead to a seven percent increase in coronavirus fatalities,” Shahrbanoo Amini, a member of Tehran City Council, reported. According to her, studies carried out by Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Sharif University of Technology confirm that pollutants increase coronavirus infections and fatalities. “Although these findings have not been confirmed by the World Health Organization, we must not ignore the issue,” she said. “We must add the effect of air pollution on coronavirus contagion to other problems that it causes.”

 

Provinces Round-up

As of November 29, coronavirus had claimed the lives of 2,468 people in Fars province, reported Ali Akbari, vice president of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. “Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours, 41 patients lost their lives to coronavirus,” he said. “Currently 1,983 patients with Covid-19 symptoms are hospitalized across the province, 348 of them in ICUs.”

According to Fars province officials, in the last 10 days, following lockdowns being put in place, most shops were closed and shuttered and, for the most part, people were following health guidelines. However, they reported that coronavirus infections continued to be worrying and the number of infections and fatalities in Fars had not decreased.

In Alborz province in the last 24 hours, 93 patients with Covid-19 symptoms were hospitalized, reported Dr. Mohammad Fathi, president of Alborz University of Medical Sciences. As of November 29, 823 people with confirmed or suspected cases of coronavirus had been hospitalized across the province. In the last 24 hours, said Dr. Fathi, 16 more Covid-19 patients died, bringing the total death toll in the province to 2,295.

Ardebil province is still in a critical situation and, according Dr. Shahram Habibzadeh, president of Ardebil University of Medical Sciences, in the 24-hour period spanning November 28 and November 29, 13 people confirmed as having Covid-19 died. During the same time period 84 new patients with coronavirus symptoms were hospitalized across the province, bringing the current total to 481, and 65 patients were discharged. Out of those hospitalized, 81 were being treated at ICUs.

 

Iran’s Latest Coronavirus Statistics

In her daily briefing for November 29, the health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the last 24 hours:

Medical Expert: The Government Pushed for Herd Immunity

 

 

 

 

Dr. Lari also reported that all 31 Iranian provinces are in red, orange or yellow states of alert.

Medical Expert: The Government Pushed for Herd Immunity

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

 

 

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