Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, June 16, 2020—Iran is experiencing a new COVID-19 wave and many provinces are reporting an alarming rise in the number of new cases and deaths. “New COVID-19 cases will increase 50 percent by next week and the number of people dying of the novel coronavirus in the past two weeks were three times all the deaths of the past three months combined,” said Hossein Farshidi, dean of the Hormozgan Medical Sciences University, on Monday, June 15. Hormozgan is one of Iran’s southern provinces and these comments indicate a very critical situation in this area of the country.
“The city of Bandar Abbas has the highest number of cases in our provinces. Other cities, including Qeshm, Bandar Lengeh, Rudan and Minab are ranked next in this criterion. Circumstances in the province are considered poor and our status is code red. Each day we are in need of 48 beds to hospitalize new and chronic patients. This needs development in our equipment, medical staff and more space,” Farshidi added.
More than 52,100 people have died of the novel #coronavirus in 332 cities checkered across all of #Iran's 31 provinces, according to the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK. pic.twitter.com/sMtQhNdfXw
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 15, 2020
Reports from the city of Isfahan indicate COVID-19 is spreading in the city’s Dastgerd prison and officials are going the distance to prevent any news from leaking out from inside the facility. A large number of patients in just one ward have contracted the novel coronavirus, reports indicate. They are ill with fevers and severe coughing.
Authorities reportedly transferred these inmates to an unknown location on Saturday, June 13, after taking their temperatures. The site may be one of the hospitals in Isfahan.
One credible source says ward five of this prison has now been evacuated and closed off. Prior to this there were 150 inmates in this ward and now there is no information about there whereabouts. There is a probability that most of these inmates have contracted COVID-19.
It is worth noting that on May 8, judiciary officials closed down a detention center allocated for Dastgerd Prison that was used as a quarantine section. All the inmates returning from leave and new entrees were transferred to Dastgerd Prison. At the time there were warnings that this would lead to the spread of COVID-19 among the inmates.
#Iran COVID-19 Crisis: Death Toll Rapidly Surging, an Emerging Tragedy
Since the first days of the #coronavirus outbreak, the Iranian regime has been trying to use the #Covid_19 crisis as a tool to quell Iran’s restive society. https://t.co/gjIgXqfjgX— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 15, 2020
Over 52,100 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 332 cities checkered across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to reports tallied by the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as of Monday afternoon local time, June 15. The official death count declared by the regime stands at 9,065, around a sixth of the actual figure.
The death toll in various provinces include: 4,255 in Khuzestan, 3,690 in Qom, 3,270 in Razavi Khorasan, 2,825 in Mazandaran, 1,342 in Kermanshah, 1,095 in Kurdistan, 691 in Ardabil, 486 in Bushehr, and 395 in Hormozgan. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
