The Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to ravage the country as daily infections surged to nearly 22,000 on Sunday and mortalities spiked by 80% to 44.
The highly contagious variant drove daily new cases to the highest levels in the past four months, and increased mortalities by 20, compared to a day earlier, ISNA reported.
A member of Tehran Province’s Covid taskforce, Nader Tavakoli, pointed to the arrival of the sixth wave and said that the number of outpatient visits in the province had risen to 6,000.
“The difference between this peak and the last is that infection rates are high but the disease is fortunately less severe,” he added.
South Africa reported Omicron to the World Health Organization in late November. It has since taken over the world as the dominant strain, increased transmission rates exponentially and flooded hospitals with patients suffering from cold-like symptoms.
A member of parliament announced on Sunday that 30 lawmakers had contracted Omicron and had to self-quarantine.
Over the past ten days, 448 contracted the respiratory disease and one person died from it every hour.
Despite the spike in positive cases and hospitalizations, only 57% of Iranians wear facemasks and safety rules are widely ignored.
No Restrictions
A member of the national Covid-19 science committee, Masoud Mardani, said on Sunday that the government has not yet reinstated any restrictive measures to curb the outbreak.
“We strongly recommend restrictions to be imposed on gatherings, parties and unnecessary travels,” he said, noting that vaccinations could stem the spread of the virus.
“The majority of those who first catch Omicron are the unvaccinated. I hope these individuals learn a lesson and get vaccinated after the disease passes its course,” he said.
The Health Ministry administered more than 572,000 vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of doses given to 131.6 million.
More than 60.6 million Iranians have received the first shot, 54 million have been given two shots and 16.8 million have been administered a third booster shot.
Iran made anyone over the age of 18 eligible to receive the booster dose one day after the Omicron variant was first found in the capital Tehran in a recent traveler to the United Arab Emirates.
Worldwide Covid-19 cases increased to 373.5 million on Sunday and fatalities caused by the contagion reached 5.67 million.
