Tehran Covid-19 Deaths Dwindle

Deaths caused by Covid-19 across Tehran Province have dropped, the province’s governor general said on Tuesday. 

“Although we have not reached stable circumstances,” Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey said, “the disease is being better managed compared to last month,” IRNA reported.

The official attributed the decline in new virus cases, hospitalizations and deaths to the safety protocols imposed in the past two months to curb virus transmission.

“The disease peaked on seventh and eighth November, when we hospitalized 6,700. At the time, 182 to 190 died daily due to Covid-19.”

Noting that the enforced health protocols effectively forced most Tehranis indoors, the governor general warned that the easing of restrictions has once again made the city crowded, which could trigger another peak by next week.

More health officials continued to voice concern over Yalda night when families and relatives in Iran gather and celebrate the winter solstice.

Some members of the National Coronavirus Taskforce have proposed the night curfew to be moved from 9 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Yalda night to limit home gatherings.

Corona Emergency Calls 

Some 60% of the calls received for emergency medical services are related to Covid-19, the head of the organization, Pirhossein Koulivand, said during a televised interview on Tuesday.

“Roughly 60% of the calls are linked to Covid-19 and our personnel can reach patients within four minutes,” he added.

According to the official, they have formed 15-member teams charged with the identification and isolation of coronavirus positive patients. 

Patients who do not possess the means to self-isolate are quarantined in hotels and motels to prevent the infection from spreading to housemates.

The daily count of infections and deaths remained relatively stable on Tuesday, as the spokeswoman for Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, reported 223 more deaths on Tuesday, taking the total toll to 52,670.

She said, “Some 7,704 new Covid-19 patients were detected and 1,299 of them required hospital admission.” 

The new cases pushed the tally past 1.123 million.

Lari pointed out that Iran has carried out 6.79 million PCR tests. 

“There are currently 12 cities on red alert, 288 are orange and 148 are yellow,” she said, with the colors representing transmission rates.

Over 833,000 have recovered from the infectious disease and 5,700 are hospitalized in intensive care units.

Around the world, 73.3 million have contracted the coronavirus and 1.63 million have died from it.