Religious Ceremonies Go Ahead Despite Coronavirus Ban

Today was Fatimiyya, a series of days when Muslims and especially Shias mourn the martyrdom of Fatimiyya al-Zahra, the youngest daughter of Prophet Mohammad, in 632 AD. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did not participate in any public ceremonies. But videos and pictures from the streets of a number of cities show processions where people disregarded social distancing and other public health protocols.

On January 17, a religious holiday, the number of people traveling to religious towns and to scenic northern provinces that are popular vacation destinations increased. Officials in these provinces had banned travel to their cities from other parts of Iran. But reports indicated that a large number of cars with license plates from other provinces have been seen on roads leading to northern provinces.

The situation in three northern provinces, where 33 cities are in red or orange state of alert, continues to cause alarm. And there have been reports that the number infections in some other provinces, including Kermanshah and Khuzestan, are on the rise.

Religious Mourners Defy Ban on Public Ceremonies

On January 16, Anooshirvan Mohseni Bandpey, governor of Tehran province, announced that any gatherings for Fatimiyya are banned in the province; a day later, at least three large ceremonies were held in Tehran. Pictures of these ceremonies, where speakers and religious eulogists were present, show that the gatherings had been organized beforehand. These ceremonies started at 9:30am and lasted for several hours.

Besides Tehran, such ceremonies were held in other places as well, including in the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad. A day earlier Mehdi Gholian, vice president of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, had announced that even though Mashhad is now in a blue, i.e. least dangerous, state of alert, it did not mean that the ban on gatherings has been lifted. “People should know that when they go to such gatherings out of their own free will they are assisting the coronavirus,” he warned.

Experts have no doubt that such ceremonies and gatherings are “super-spreader” events and that we shall see the results soon – with a rise in infections.

Health Official: Any Vaccine that Raises General Immunity is Good

Since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned imports of American and British coronavirus vaccines to Iran, the question of what vaccine options remain for the country has been the subject of much discussion.

Dr. Mine Mohraz, a member of the National Coronavirus Taskforce’s Science Committee, said that any approved coronavirus vaccine from any country, that is effective, can be used for vaccination. She added that the existing vaccines are not especially different from each other and that they can be used if they are more than 70 percent effective because they help to “increase the general immunity level” of the population.

Referring to the Iranian vaccine, CovIran-Barekat, that is in the process of clinical trials on human beings, Dr. Mohraz said that, “as of now, the number of tests conducted is not enough for us to determine how effective it is going to be, because only 14 people have been injected with the vaccine, whereas 56 people must be tested.” She warned that, according to epidemiologists around the world, a “difficult winter” is ahead and we must be careful because other coronavirus surges will likely follow.

Provinces Round-up

Mazandaran continued to see a high rate of infections – bucking the trends that other provinces are largely following. All 10 cities on red alert are located in Mazandaran and the number of hospitalizations has reached 1,435. Provincial health officials believe that the situation has deteriorated because people are not taking coronavirus seriously and because they participate in gatherings that spread the virus.

In the past 24 hours, 152 patients with Covid-19 were hospitalized in treatment centers under the supervision of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, and 109 patients were released, reported Dr. Abbas Mousavi, president of the university. During the same period, 27 new patients were admitted to hospitals run by Babol University of Medical Sciences, also in Mazandaran, and 11 were released, announced Dr. Farzad Jalali, Babol university’s president.

In Alborz, three other Covid-19 patients died in the past 24 hours, bringing the official total death toll in the province to 2,635 people. With the hospitalization of 37 new patients suffering from coronavirus symptoms, the number of hospitalized Covid-19 cases in the province reached 288 people.

In Kurdistan, currently 119 patience with Covid-19 are hospitalized and, with one coronavirus fatality in the past 24 hours, the official death toll for the province now stands at 1,046 people.

Mazandaran may be in a worse situation than other provinces – but other regions are also warning that cases are increasing. Reza Nejati, a spokesman for Khuzestan Coronavirus Taskforce, reported that in the past three days the number of people with Covid-19 symptoms who had visited hospitals and treatment centers in the province has increased. “If this trend continues,” he said, “there can be no doubt that we will have another coronavirus peak.” His words were confirmed by Valiollah Hayati, deputy governor of Khuzestan for security affairs, who said that “the number of visits to hospitals is increasing and evidence shows that the situation is fragile.”

Although in recent weeks the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations and fatalities in Kermanshah had fallen, the increase in the number of people who test positive for coronavirus is “an alarm bell the signals a fourth wave in the province,” said Houshang Bazvand, governor of Kermanshah. He warned that people must not assume that the situation has returned to normal.

Iran’s Latest Coronavirus Statistics

In her daily briefing for January 17, the Health Ministry’s spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the past 24 hours:

Dr. Lari reported that currently 10 Iranian cities are on red alert, 23 cities are in an orange state of alert, 163 are yellow and 252 are blue. All 10 cities on red alert are located in Mazandaran province.