Covid-19 Resurgence in Several Provinces

The National Coronavirus Taskforce placed nine cities on red alert on Saturday and announced the resurgence of the deadly pandemic in a number of provinces across the country.
“The disease’s resurgence has begun in some provinces, this warrants a serious warning,” the taskforce’s spokesman, Alireza Raeisi, was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Nine cities, all located in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, were put on red alert on Saturday. Iran had not color-coded any city as red for the past three weeks.
Linking the downward trend of fatalities to measures taken since late December, Raeisi said, “Despite the low number of deaths, we know that when the virus spreads, hospitalizations rise after a two-week gap and deaths increase after four weeks.”
President Hassan Rouhani also expressed concern over the red state of Khuzestan’s cities during the taskforce’s meeting and said, “This means we are moving toward the fourth wave of Covid-19 cases.”
Iran reported 500 deaths per day during the peak of the third wave of infections. Health officials have warned about the magnitude of a fourth wave, saying that it will be more devastating than the previous three waves.
 

Mutated Virus 

Raeisi reported the first death caused by the British strain of the coronavirus in the northwestern province of Qazvin.
“We have tested those in contact with the deceased patient and we’re waiting for the results,” he said. Local officials have informed that the patient had not traveled abroad over the past few months.
According to British officials, the mutated version can be as much as 70% more contagious.
Raeisi warned, “We need to monitor the borders and quarantine travelers. Even if they don’t show any symptoms, they need to stay home for 14 days.”
The Health Ministry recorded some 7,100 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday, taking the national tally to 1.51 million, spokeswoman for the ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, said.
“Over the past 24 hours, 74 coronavirus patients lost their lives, bringing the total death toll to 58,883,” the official said.
Over 1.29 million have recovered from the infectious disease and 3,700 are in critical condition, hospitalized in ICU units, Lari said.
“Iran has carried out more than 9.99 million PCR tests since the start of the outbreak,” she said.
Countries around the world have registered a total of 108.8 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 2.4 million fatalities.