Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, September 16, 2020—Over 103,900 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 433 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 Wednesday afternoon local time, September 16. The official death count declared by the regime stands at 23,632, around a fifth of the actual figure.
The coronavirus death toll in various provinces include: 25,115 in Tehran, 7553 in Razavi Khorasan, 6797 in Khuzestan, 4819 in Isfahan, 4718 in Qom, 4618 in Lorestan, 2901 in Fars, 2018 in East Azerbaijan, 1764 in North Khorasan, 1655 in Kermanshah, 1376 in Semnan, 1354 in Markazi (Central), 1300 in Bushehr, 1260 in Ardabil, 931 in Qazvin, and 612 in South Khorasan. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
Infographic-Over 103,900 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran
The spokesperson of the regime’s Health Ministry announced the mullahs’ engineered Covid-19 numbers as 179 deaths in the past 24 hours, indicating the highest such number in the past 35 days. There have been 2819 new cases in the past 24-hour period, she added, also indicating the highest such numbers in the past three months.
“We need to consider the entire country being a red zone. We are witnessing a new wave in many provinces,” said Health Minister Saied Namaki on Tuesday, according to the state-run Entekhab daily.
“Our main concern is a new wave in Tehran province which has become the country’s Covid-19 crossroad,” said Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi on Tuesday. “In the past few days, we have witnessed an increase in new cases in the provinces of East Azerbaijan and Qom. One can say very frankly that right now there are no safe provinces in the country,” he added, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
“We are in middle of the ocean during a storm with numerous waves. The illness is waiting for us to be neglectful. There will be no difference if our gathering is for an urgent matter or an unnecessary trip, for a sacred ceremony or just recreational, be it in school or anything, a wedding, a mourning ceremony, any gathering means the virus will spread,” Harirchi said on Tuesday in a state-TV interview.
Furthermore, the regime’s Health Ministry spokesperson had said to state TV, “The reopening of schools was not welcomed very much in Tehran and around 15 percent participated.”
“We are entering a third wave. Of course, we are hopeful it will not be so, but if it is this time around unfortunately there will be more deaths. On September 11 there were 68 people seeking emergency Covid-19 treatment. The day before yesterday, however, we had 180 and 160 yesterday, meaning around two and half times more,” said the deputy chief of Tehran’s Masih Daneshvari Hospital to state TV on Tuesday.
June 27 – Yasuj, south-central #Iran
Head of a local hospital says the facility is full of #COVID19 patients.pic.twitter.com/Vd9iU4L1Kq— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 28, 2020
“The true numbers should be somewhat higher than what the people know because the numbers are those that seek medical treatment in hospitals and their PCR tests are positive,” said Masoud Mardani, a member of the National Covid-19 Task Force on Wednesday. “The virus’ wave in June was worse than the initial days in February. As a result, the country’s medical apparatus was completely engulfed. We could not see to many of the patients. There were times that all our beds and ICUs were full. We seriously have a Covid-19 problem on our hands,” he added, according to state TV.
The manager of treatment at Isfahan Medical Sciences University said, “Since mid-July, the conditions of the disease in Isfahan has grown more and more complicated and difficult. Death rates have tripled, the equivalent of a minibus falling down a cliff every day and all its passengers dying. In May and June, we had 300 patients. Today, we have more than 1,100 hospitalized patients in the province, and their conditions are much worse than previous waves of the disease. Because we haven’t broken the chain of contagion in the province, the situation will not become fixed. Yesterday, 2,700 people across the country contracted coronavirus, of which 938 were from Isfahan. We predict the number of cases and deaths to increase in the next 2-4 weeks. It is a very dangerous situation. If we do not intervene in earnest, we will see extraordinary figures in the second half of September.” (Source: ISNA, September 16)
The official IRNA news agency quoted the dean of Qom Medical Sciences University as saying, “The third wave of coronavirus has begun and the number of hospitalized patients has increased in comparison to the second wave. We will allow any congregations and events in Qom anymore. Health protocols will not create miracles and the most important factor in breaking the spread of coronavirus is to limit crowds. We requested the province’s management to shut down cemeteries until further notice. We request the health ministry to not abandon Qom with Covid-infected children and to only hold classes online. In the past week, the number of hospitalized patients and positive covid-19 cases has increased by 70 percent…. This province is in a super-critical situation.”
According to IRNA, the chief of emergency in Qom said, “There are 61 active ambulances in Qom, and we need at least 78 vehicles. By the end of the year, we need to establish 12 new emergency centers in Qom, which isn’t likely to happen with the current budget status.”
The caretaker of Alborz Medical Science University said, “In the past weeks, the number of daily new hospitalized was between 60 and 70, but in the past 24 hours, this figure has reached 104 and six people have lost their lives.” (Source: ISNA, September 16)
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
