Iran Covid-19 Mortality Decline ‘a Valuable Accomplishment’

With Iran’s daily coronavirus death toll remaining below 400 for the second consecutive day, Health Minister Saeed Namaki called the decline “a valuable accomplishment”, but urged the people not to drop their guard against the outbreak.
“The number of fatalities has reached nearly 389,” Namaki said on Sunday and reminded that international organizations had estimated the country’s overnight death rate would spike to 800-1,000 a day by late December, ISNA reported.
“If we once again assume we are returning to normality as a result of this achievement … the disease will deliver another blow as in the past few months.”
Over the past nine months, strict adherence to safety guidelines by Iranians has been followed by complacency and a jump in the number of cases, hospitalizations and eventually deaths.
“This is a complicated virus … It is spreading faster than it was in previous months. Observe health protocols so we can bring better news in the coming days,” Namaki warned in his concluding remarks.
Health Ministry’s Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Sunday new deaths have taken the national toll to over 47,870. 
The number of daily coronavirus infections also declined below 13,000 after one week of rising cases, a testament to the efficacy of last month’s lockdown disciplines imposed in 89 counties and towns hit hardest by the disease. 
Lari said, “Some 12,950 new patients infected with Covid-19 were identified across the country, 1,795 of whom required admission to hospitals.”
The fresh cases brought the total number to over 948,700, she said.

Quarantine Violations

Alireza Zali, the head of Tehran’s Coronavirus Taskforce, said they have received reports of many quarantine violations by those who have tested positive for Covid-19. 
“In some centers in Tehran, up to 73% breached self-isolation, which is very concerning,” he said.
The government’s new scheme to stem the infection involves penalizing confirmed patients who disregard self-quarantine rules over the course of the disease.
“If someone tests positive for Covid-19, they are like a biological bomb, they are highly contagious and can transmit the infection to many others,” the health official said.
The National Coronavirus Taskforce has given both the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways and the Civil Aviation Organization access to the name of known patients to stop them from boarding airplanes and trains. 
Since the implementation of the restrictive measures last Saturday, over 1,700 infected individuals were stopped from embarking on air and rail travel.
“Some 658,000 have recovered from the respiratory illness and 5,860 are in serious condition. Iran has administered 6.08 million PCR tests since the virus was first spotted,” Lari said. 
The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 62.68 million around the world and taken the lives of 1.46 million.