Iran: New Wave of Coronavirus Outbreak Across the Country

Hospitalization rises 350%, 400%, 100%, and 97% in Gilan, South Khorasan, Khuzestan, and Khorasan Razavi provinces, respectively

• Ministry of Health: Deaths due to Coronavirus have become two-digit again and 2,375 new patients have been identified in the last 24 hours.

• Alireza Zali: Visiting medical and Coronavirus treatment centers have increased in Tehran, and the number of hospitalizations in Tehran is gradually changing.

• Payam Tabresi: Our outpatient cases have increased significantly again; it seems that the beginning of a new wave is happening in the country.

• Minoo Mohraz: We are facing an increase in the number of patients. Coronavirus is not over and BA4 and BA5 types will spread in Iran

• Jaam-e Jam state daily: We are going back to the terrifying days when it was just a miracle to find an empty bed or a small place in the emergency room to get oxygen

As a result of the mullahs’ regime’s criminal and plundering policies, the failure to provide reliable vaccines, and the lack of basic facilities for prevention and treatment of patients, the people across Iran, especially the workers, toilers, and the deprived, have once again been left defenseless and vulnerable against the new wave of Coronavirus outbreak. The regime’s Ministry of Health announced today, “The death toll due to Coronavirus has again reached double digits and 2,375 new patients were identified in the last 24 hours. Four cities are in red, 14 in orange, and 142 in yellow status” (IRNA, July 10, 2022).

Alireza Zali, the head of the Coronavirus Control Operations HQ in Tehran, said, “In the last 24 hours, 4,000 people have visited medical centers in Tehran province with suspected symptoms of Coronavirus, while this number had decreased to 1,500 in the last two weeks. The number of hospitalizations in Tehran is gradually changing. We expect to see new waves of the virus outbreak in the coming weeks” (ISNA, July 10, 2022).

Payam Tabarsi, a member of the Coronavirus Control Operations HQ, said, “A large number of people will probably be affected by the disease, and when a large population is affected by the disease, adverse effects, death toll, and admission to the ICU will certainly increase. It is about a week now that our outpatient cases have increased again, which is significant. The beginning of a new wave seems to be happening in the country” (Shafqna, July 8, 2022).

Minoo Mohraz, a specialist in infectious diseases, confirmed an increase in the number of patients and hospitalizations and said, “The situation has changed and unfortunately we are facing an increase in the number of infections. Coronavirus is not finished and BA4 and BA5 types will spread in Iran” (Shafqna, July 8, 2022).

In Khuzestan province, the president of Ahvaz Medical University warned against a new wave of Coronavirus outbreak, “The number of hospitalized Coronavirus patients in Khuzestan has increased by more than 100%” (ISNA, July 9, 2011). The vice president of this university said, “We are facing a sharp jump in the number of infected people, and the occurrence of a heavy wave of coronavirus and widespread infection is not far off” (IRGC News Agency, July 9, 2022).

In Khorasan Razavi province, Mashhad Medical University announced, “The number of outpatients has increased by 97% in the last 10 days” (Quds Force News Agency, July 8, 2022). The head of Mashhad Medical Council Organization said, “Many people are infected with Coronavirus, but they have not taken the PCR test; The number of infected people is much higher than the number of definite positive PCR test cases. In pessimistic conditions, from Mid-August, and in realistic conditions, in September and October, we will witness the emergence of a new peak of Coronavirus” (Shafqna, July 8, 2022).

Birjand Medical University announced that the number of people infected with Coronavirus in South Khorasan province has increased five-fold in two weeks” (state Radio and Television News Agency, July 8, 2022).

The spokesperson of Gilan Medical University said, “Coronavirus hospitalizations in Gilan province have increased 4.5 times compared to the last 10 days of June” (Khabar Online, 9 July 2022).

The state-run daily Jaam-e Jam wrote on July 7, “We are returning to the terrifying days of living with Coronavirus; to the stressful days when it was just a miracle to find an empty bed or a small place in the emergency room of medical centers to lie down and get oxygen from the machine; the days when the disease would infect several people from most houses and send one of them to the world of no return. The country’s hospitals and medical centers are busy these days, and after a short period when the Coronavirus departments were closed or semi-closed, the page is turning again in favor of the virus.”

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

July 10, 2022