Covid Cases Hit New Record

Iran logged 8,930 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours on Tuesday, shattering its previous record for new Covid-19 cases set four days ago, health officials announced.

“Iran’s daily coronavirus tally neared the 9,000 mark, taking the national total to over 637,000,” Health Ministry’s Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari was quoted as saying by IRNA.

“Overnight deaths caused by the viral infection reached 422, pushing the country’s toll to 36,160,” she added.

Nader Tavakkoli, a member of Tehran’s coronavirus taskforce, said hospitals in the capital city have reached full capacity, as a third wave of infections continued to take its toll on the city’s healthcare system.

“New patients are admitted to emergency rooms and they are transferred to hospital wards when a bed becomes available,” he said.

Tavakkoli pointed out that the taskforce is opting for a new strategy to slow the spread of the deadly virus by focusing on contact tracing and administering more PCR tests.

“Widespread testing and detection of Covid-19 patients can reveal the real figures, which can in turn improve policymaking and help control the pandemic,” he added.

Earlier this week, an official with the Health Ministry suggested that the actual number of cases and deaths are three times higher than the official count.

Call for More Tests

Pointing out that the status of the epidemic is “very bad”, Minou Mohraz, a member of National Coronavirus Taskforce, told ISNA that increasing testing capacity is a must to contain the contagion.

“Raising testing capacity can be very effective in the management of the infectious disease, that’s how they control Covid-19 in the world,” Mohraz said.

She also noted that PCR tests are currently not affordable for the general public and called for widespread access to testing as a means of early detection that could break the chain of transmission.

Iran has performed 5.03 million diagnostic tests since the start of the outbreak and raised daily testing from 20,000 to 35,000.

“Some 495,000 have recovered from the respiratory illness so far and 5,370 are in critical condition,” Lari added.

The government has reinstated lockdown disciplines in 89 counties and 25 provincial capitals to tackle the influx of patients.

The number of global coronavirus infections jumped to 47.42 million on Tuesday, as the death toll reached 1.21 million.