The Health Ministry logged over 20,800 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, an 18% single-day rise compared to a day earlier as the fifth wave of the pandemic shows no sign of abating.
Compared to the previous week, Iran reported a 40% climb in outpatients, a 17% jump in hospitalizations and a 10% rise in fatalities, spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Lari noted, “The Delta variant spreads much faster than other mutations.”
The highly contagious Delta variant, first detected in India, has spread to over 90 countries, quickly becoming the dominant variant in many regions around the world.
The mutation entered Iran through southern and eastern provinces despite authorities’ efforts to monitor borders to prevent infected travelers from spreading the virus.
Lari urged the public to adhere to health protocols and asked those who have received a Covid-19 shot to continue wearing masks in crowded and enclosed spaces.
So far, 4.9 million Iranians have received a first of a coronavirus vaccine and 2.149 million have been fully vaccinated, bringing the total number of shots administered to 7.049 million.
“The vaccination drive will speed up after the delivery of more coronavirus vaccine shipments in coming days,” Lari said.
ICUs Filled in Tehran
Tehran Province is planning to add ICU beds to its overwhelmed hospitals to make room for an influx of patients infected with the Delta variant, a senior member of Tehran’s national coronavirus taskforce, Nader Tavakoli, said.
“Some 6,700 Covid patients have been hospitalized across Tehran Province and we have 1,500 daily hospitalizations a day,” the official said.
Noting that the Delta variant is the dominant mutation spreading throughout Tehran, Tavakoli said, “Tehran is not acting like a city on red alert.”
Last week, the National Coronavirus Taskforce added the capital to the list of cities placed on red alert, which entails the reduction of working hours and obligation of two-thirds of employees to work from home.
Some 143 cities have been color-coded as red and 186 as orange.
The Health Ministry reported 182 deaths on Monday, taking the national toll to 86,041. Iran has in total recorded 3.394 million infections since the start of the outbreak.
Countries around the world have registered 187.69 million positive cases of the novel coronavirus and 4.050 million deaths.
