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All Provincial Capitals on Coronavirus Red Alert

All Provincial Capitals on Coronavirus Red Alert
All Provincial Capitals on Coronavirus Red Alert

The Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that all of Iran’s 31 provincial capitals have been placed on red alert, as a fourth wave of infections is sweeping across the country at an unprecedented pace.
Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said 85% of the country’s cities are color-coded “red” or very high-risk, and “orange” or high-risk, ISNA reported. 
“There are only 11 low-risk cities in Iran. Some of the restrictions designed for ‘red’ and ‘orange’ cities have not been adequately imposed yet,” he added.
Masoud Mardani, a member of the National Coronavirus Headquarters, called for a 10-day lockdown of all areas on red alert to curb transmission rates.
“We’re in need of an at least 10-day lockdown to get through these concerning and catastrophic times,” Mardani said, pointing out that all members of the headquarters’ Science Committee unanimously agreed on the drastic measure.
According to the official, hospitals have been overwhelmed with an influx of patients and are close to running out of in-patient beds. All ICU units have hit full capacity and many hospitals can no longer admit new patients.
“A quarantine in Tehran is out of the question; it is the capital of the country with many international activities,” Tehran’s Governor General Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandpey said on Wednesday. 
“All non-essential businesses have been closed for a two-week period and the closures will be renewed, if necessary.”
Iran has banned travel to and from cities color-coded red and orange to weather the coronavirus crisis.

 

 

Inoculation Delay Explained

Spokesman of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration Kianoush Jahanpour responded to mounting criticism over the slow inoculation drive in the country, saying that it is a worldwide issue.
“Most manufacturing companies have not been able to deliver on their promises and Iran is one of the countries affected by the delays,” he added.
The official was hopeful that they could ramp up the national vaccination drive by the end of spring when Iran is expected to begin mass production of homegrown vaccines.
Among the country’s healthcare personnel, so far 160,000 have been vaccinated against the contagion.
“Iran tallied roughly 21,000 new Covid-19 infections in one day, breaking Tuesday’s all-time record by 20% and taking the national number of cases to 1.98 million,” spokeswoman of Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, said.
Overnight deaths neared the 200 mark on Wednesday, with the ministry logging 193 fatalities, pushing the country’s death toll to 63,699.
“More than 1.6 million people have recovered from the respiratory illness and some 4,200 remain in critical condition and are hospitalized in ICU units,” the spokeswoman said.
“Iran has administered over 13.3 million diagnostic tests since the start of the outbreak.” 
Countries around the world have registered a total of 133.1 million coronavirus cases and 2.88 million fatalities.
 

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