Daily Covid Infections Top 11,000

The easily transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus drove daily cases to a three-month record of 11,800 as health authorities cautioned against the sixth wave of the outbreak. 
The daily coronavirus tally surged by nearly 26% on Wednesday, compared to only one day earlier, pushing the figure to five-digit figures, ISNA reported. 
The Health Ministry on Wednesday color-coded one central city in Yazd Province as red, or very high-risk, after 47 days of red-free cities. 
The Omicron variant was reported to the World Health Organization in late November by South Africa. The highly mutated variant fast became the dominant strain around the world and in Iran.
A member of the National Coronavirus Headquarters, Masoud Mardani, said on Wednesday that the actual number of infections is much higher than official figures as many refuse to get tested or are asymptomatic.  
“The country will reach Omicron’s peak in two to four weeks,” he said and urged against complacency by getting vaccinated and following safety protocols.
He warned, “We cannot go back to the times of three-digit daily death tolls.”
During the peak of the pandemic over summer, Iran registered daily highs of 700 mortalities and 50,000 cases.

Three-Figure Deaths

It is “not unexpected” for the daily Covid-19 toll to return to three-digit figures, secretary of the Covid-19 Epidemiology Committee, Masoud Younesian, said on Wednesday. 
Iran is currently registering between 20 to 30 deaths on a daily basis, a sharp decline compared to its all-time high of 700 in summer. 
Younesian said that vaccination was essential to the fight against the outbreak and that only 64% of those over the age of 12 had gotten both vaccine shots. 
Iran has administered a total of 129.9 million vaccine doses since the launch of the immunization campaign one year ago. 
Over 15 million Iranians have received a booster shot against Covid. Iran made booster shots eligible for anyone over 18 years old to prevent a sixth wave, one day after Omicron was found in the capital Tehran. 
Over the past few weeks, health authorities have called for restrictive measures to be reinstated to curb transmission rates. 
The government is yet to close down high-risk environments such as cinemas, gyms or wedding halls.