Health Officials in Tehran: Crisis is “Beyond Red Alert”

On Wednesday, October 7, the governor of Tehran province announced that paramilitary forces from the Basij might be drafted in to enforce new mandatory mask-wearing in the Iranian capital. Anooshirvan Mohseni Bandpey reiterated that from Saturday, October 10, wearing masks in public spaces would be obligatory and anyone caught without a mask would be fined. “The Basij forces have said they are ready to patrol [the streets],” he said, “and will give masks to people who violating the rule because they cannot afford masks.”

Fears are mounting that the new measures are a case of too little, too late. “As of Monday, October 5,” said Nahid Khoda-Karami, a member of Tehran City Council’s Health Committee , “[Tehran’s] Behesht Zahra Cemetery had registered 13,379 deaths from coronavirus or suspected Covid-19 cases. Of these 8,182 were men and 5,197 were women, which shows the mortality rate among men than women.”

Khoda-Karami also reported that two members of Tehran City Council had been infected with coronavirus. “Sadr-Azam Nouri, who had been hospitalized because of a severe case of Covid-19, was released from hospital yesterday and is now in quarantine at home,” she said. “Zahra Bahramnejad is also in quarantine at home. The condition of both is improving. Fortunately, tests on other members of the city council have come back negative.”

A one-week lockdown in several provinces, including Tehran, is ending on October 9. But according to Mansour Darajati, director general of Tehran province’s crisis management committee, “the likelihood restrictions will be renewed for another week is high.” Darajati went on to say he had been in discussions with the National Coronavirus Taskforce to keep Tehran quarantined and to control entry and exit points, “but the taskforce looks beyond a single province, and we follow them.”

Provinces Round-Up

The northern province of Mazandaran is on red alert and on October 7, Dr. Farzad Jalali, president of Babol University of Medical Sciences, begged Iranians not to travel to this province.

In Markavi province, meanwhile, some 42 more nurses been infected with coronavirus. “Since the outbreak, 451 health workers have been infected,” reported Dr. Bahman Sadeghi, vice president of Arak University of Medical Sciences. “Of these 228 were nurses, 131 were non-medical staffers and 32 were interns and resident doctors. The numbers show that each month 40 to 50 health workers are taken out of action.”

The situation in the city of Mahabad, in the province of West Azerbaijan, is also reportedly critical. “Since the outbreak of this disease 142 active medical staffers in this city including nurses, doctors and medics have been infected,” reported Amir Behzad, director of Mahabad Health Network. Mahabad’s Friday Imam Abdossalam Emami has also asked other clerics and prayer leaders in mosques and in villages to abstain from holding any religious ceremonies or congregational prayers.

In her daily briefing for October 7, health ministry’s spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the past 24 hours:

As usual, these official statistics only include confirmed cases who have been tested. “Suspected” cases who have not been tested are not added to the total. Before October 7, the highest number of recorded coronavirus fatalities in one day was 235.

Dr. Lari also reported that of the 31 Iranian provinces currently 30 provinces are in a high state of alert:

This article is part of IranWire's coronavirus chronology. Read the full chronology