Iran COVID-19 Cases Up, Deaths Down

Iran’s daily coronavirus caseload rose by 12.2% on Tuesday while overnight deaths dropped sharply by 26%, health officials announced.
According to a Health Ministry tally gathered from the reports of laboratories and medical schools across the country, Iran has registered 1,112 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the national total to 92,584, ISNA reported.
Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also said that over a 24-hour period, deaths from the infectious disease increased by 71 to reach 5,877. 
The official added, “More than 72,000 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.” 
The recovery rate stands at 75%, which is “an international record”, according to Health Minister Saeed Namaki.
Nearly 3,000 of those who have contracted the life-threatening virus have been hospitalized in intensive care units. So far, Iran has carried out 442,590 COVID-19 tests in 126 laboratories equipped with testing kits.

IRNA reported that based on the statistics released by the Health Ministry, the infection has killed 3-4 people every hour in the past 10 days. During the same period, some 50 contract the virus and 69 recover every one hour.
The respiratory illness has taken the lives of more than 212,000 worldwide, out of three million diagnosed with the infection.

Facemasks

During his daily briefing, Jahanpour thanked the people who observe social distancing rules and stressed the need for wearing facemasks in public. 
While the World Health Organization had initially announced facemasks are only effective for healthcare workers and those who take care of a COVID-19 patient, more countries are beginning to change their policy and advise their citizens to wear masks in public to prevent asymptomatic individuals from transmitting the disease.
Iran has also made wearing masks on the bus and in subway mandatory. 
On Monday, Alireza Zali, the head of Tehran’s coronavirus taskforce, said because of the increasing number of commuters, facemasks are compulsory for those who use public transportation. 
Zali noted, “Nearly 520,000 used Tehran’s subway system on Sunday … Subsidized masks will be available and distributed at subway entries.”
The government has put the Industries Ministry in charge of supplying metro stations with facemasks. 
Zali advised citizens, who cannot afford to purchase masks, to produce homemade face coverings made of cloth, according to tutorials on the Health Ministry’s website.
“Each homemade mask can be used 5-7 times. It is best to make the masks out of thick fabrics,” the official stressed.
Jahanpour noted that surgical and N95 masks will be reserved for healthcare providers.
Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeisi had previously said in view of the two million daily users of Tehran’s subway system, it is not feasible to make facemasks mandatory. 
According to the Industries Ministry, Iran produces six million facemasks per day.