Officials Warn about UK Variant

January 24, 2021

Iranian government officials have been talking about expecting the first shipment of foreign vaccines and both President Hassan Rouhani and senior officials of the Health Ministry have promised that vaccinations will start sometime in February. In the meantime, fearing the new variant of coronavirus that was first detected in the UK, Iran banned flights to and from the UK on December 21, after the new strain was found.

“God willing,” announced Health Minister Saeed Namaki, Iran will receive the first shipment of coronavirus vaccines from “reliable sources” in the coming days. Of course, these “reliable sources” cannot include the United States and the UK since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has banned vaccines made in these two countries. Namaki also accused “the English” of downplaying at the virulence of the new coronavirus variant initially.

No Rallies or Marches for Islamic Revolution’s Anniversary

February 10 is the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and every year this day is celebrated with big rallies and marches in cities across the country, attended by senior government and military officials. This year, however, these ceremonies are cancelled. Alireza Raeesi, spokesman for the National Coronavirus Taskforce, said such gatherings would result in a surge of Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and fatalities. People can celebrate the anniversary with motorcycle parades or by riding in cars instead, he added.

Raeesi warned that compliance with health protocols is lax in some cities, especially in Tehran, Isfahan and Kashan. He also warned about the “English” coronavirus variant, saying that it has infiltrated around 60 countries and is more likely to infect young people.

Infections Rising in Some Provinces

Currently 18 Iranian cities are in an orange state of alert, 154 are on yellow alert and 276 are blue, according to Dr. Sima Sadat Lari, the Health Ministry’s spokeswoman. Last week Dr. Lari said compliance with health protocols in bakeries was the lowest in the country and asked the elderly and those suffering from underlying diseases to stay away from them. Today she revised her statement and said government offices’ front desks where people must wait in line to manage their affairs have the lowest compliance. She called on these offices to allow the internet and phones to be used more for appointments.

Last week Mazandaran, with 10 cities on red alert, was in the worst situation among Iranian provinces. This week the situation has remained critical but no city in the province is in a red state of alert. In the past 24 hours 163 new patients with Covid-19 symptoms were hospitalized in Mazandaran, bringing total hospitalizations in the province to 1,217.

Dr. Simin Babaei, director of public relations for Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, offered new statistics about children infected with coronavirus in the province. According to her, since the outbreak of coronavirus 332 children have shown symptoms of Covid-19 but only 19 of them have tested positive. Also 26 newborn babies have been diagnosed with Covid-19 but all of them were released from hospital “in good condition”.

In Fars, where the third wave of coronavirus has just subsided, a health official warned that a fourth wave might be on its way. According to Dr. Abdolrasoul Hemmati, vice president of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, as of January 23, 590 patients with Covid-19 symptoms were hospitalized across the province, 100 of them in intensive care units. He also reported that, with the death of three Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours, the death toll in the province has now reached 3,108.

Dr. Hemmati also warned that the number of outpatients with coronavirus symptoms in the province is slowly increasing and said this could be a harbinger of a fourth wave that we must expect if people ignore health protocols.

In the northeastern province of West Azerbaijan the number of coronavirus infections is on the rise as well. According to the latest figures, with 129 new hospitalizations the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients in the province has now reached 341. Of this number, 124 are in ICUs and 29 are connected to ventilators. As of now, 103,393 people in West Azerbaijan have been infected with coronavirus.

With the death of two more Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours the official death toll in Zanjan has now reached 1,125. In the same 24 hours seven new coronavirus patients were hospitalized in Zanjan, bringing the total number of hospitalizations in the province to 148. As of now, 18,951 patients with coronavirus symptoms have been hospitalized in Zanjan.

Iran’s Latest Coronavirus Statistics

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