‘No Return to Normality’ in Short Run as Covid-19 Rages On

Return to normality and the “defeat” of the coronavirus pandemic is not feasible during the next months, an Iranian health official said, pointing out that the only solution in the short term is to slow the viral infection.
The development of a vaccine or treatment in the next months is “unachievable”, Alireza Salimi, the deputy for education and research of the Islamic Republic of Iran Medical Council, was quoted as saying by ISNA on Wednesday.
“The only thing in our power is to break the chain of transmission, plan for the continuation of the cycle of life and minimize the death rate,” Salimi said.
The health official noted that “reducing transmission, deaths and preserving the medical community” are the short-term goals that can lead to the realization of the motto of the national taskforce, “we will defeat coronavirus.”
According to Salimi, 6,000 healthcare providers have contracted the infectious disease and 150 have died, only in Tehran.
Noting a difference between the first and second waves of infection, Salimi said, “This time around, patients who visit hospitals are severely ill and most require hospitalization in the ICU.”
Many Covid-19 patients were not in need of hospital care in the first wave and self-isolated at home during the course of the disease, the health official said.
Some 2,700 more were infected by the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the country’s caseload to 317,483, Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Within a 24-hour period, the contagious illness claimed the lives of 185 Iranians, bringing the death toll to 17,802, Lari said.
So far nearly 275,000 have recovered from the infectious disease and 4,129 are in critical condition. Iran has administered 2.58 million diagnostic tests to identify infections.
Lari advised against travel in the three-day upcoming holidays.
Global coronavirus cases rose to 18.7 million on Wednesday and deaths surpassed 705,000.