Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, November 11, 2020—Over 150,700 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 465 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, November 11. The official death toll declared by the regime stands at 39,664, around a fourth of the actual figure.
The coronavirus death toll in various provinces include: 36,601 in Tehran, 11,270 in Razavi Khorasan, 8710 in Khuzestan, 8449 in Isfahan, 6470 in Lorestan, 6432 in Mazandaran , 5482 in East Azerbaijan, 4594 in West Azerbaijan, 4160 in Alborz, 4070 in Fars, 2720 in Markazi (Central), 2700 in Kurdistan, 2560 in Yazd, 2480 in Kerman, 2330 in Semnan, 1545 in Qazvin, and 1265 in Ilam. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
Infographic-Over 150,700 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran
The regime’s Health Ministry spokesperson announced the mullahs’ engineered Covid-19 numbers on Wednesday as 462 new deaths and 11,780 new cases in the past 24 hours, both representing unprecedented numbers.
Regime officials and experts are requesting a shutdown for at least two weeks across the country, especially Tehran and large cities. All the while, the National Covid-19 Task Force chaired by regime President Hassan Rouhani opposes such measures.
“Sixty-five medical sciences university deans have written a letter to the Health Minister. These are experts and officials on the ground, and most of whom have contracted the virus. Their deputies have also mostly contracted the virus. Now all these people are indicating that the most effective measure is to impose a shutdown for at least two weeks,” said Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi on Tuesday. “In the climax of this illness when daily deaths were in the hundreds and many thousands of new cases each day, as long as hospitals are reporting over 3,000 people seeking medical treatment each day, and when our 6,000 ICU beds are full and reporting half of this number allocated to Covid-19 patients, small and temporary measures will not be effective,” he added in an interview with state TV.
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 shutdown should be fully imposed. The two-week shutdown suggestion has been proposed by the National Covid-19 Task Force and it faced proponents and opposition. However, we are hoping this blueprint will be implemented following a final conclusion,” said Masoud Mardani, a member of the National Covid-19 Task Force on Wednesday, according to the state-run Vana News website.
“The situation is so dire that some experts believe the entire country needs to be placed under lockdown for at least two weeks,” said Deputy Health Minister Reza Malekzadeh on Wednesday. “Even last night Iraj Harirchi also said there needs to be a two-week countrywide lockdown. However, the National Covid-19 Task Force rejected the two-week lockdown plan and instead imposed 12-hour limitations for provincial capitals and large cities. Reports of people abiding by limitations at 6 pm are disappointing,” he added, according to the state-run Hamshahri Online website.
“The epidemic has become extremely concerning. The solution is to announce a full lockdown for at least two weeks in order to somewhat decrease the spread,” said Minoo Mohraz, a member of the National Covid-19 Task Force on Wednesday. “The price that the government is now paying for medical treatment and managing hospitals is extremely high. The government can provide a portion of this enormous amount of money to the people and ask them to stay home. One truly cannot put a price on people’s lives. It is in the country’s interests to decrease our medical treatment expenses,” she added, according to IRNA, the regime’s official news agency.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, Saeed Khaal, the manager of Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, said, “All of the crises that we have experienced at this cemetery over the past 50 years of its history have lasted for just a few days or a week at most.”
Never before — not during earthquakes or even the country’s 1980s war with Iraq — has the pace of bodies flowing into Behesht-e-Zahra been so high for so long, Khal added.
“Now we have been in a crisis for 260 days, and it is not clear how many months more we are going to be facing this crisis,” he said.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, a member of the scientific council of Shiraz Medical Sciences University said on Wednesday, “In addition to all current restrictions, the only solution to contain the growing trend of the spread of the virus is a two-week lockdown.”
In Khuzestan province, the advisor of the governor said, “To stop the chain of the spread of the virus, unnecessary businesses must be shut down in 10 counties of the province for one month.” (Source: IRNA news agency, November 11)
In Lorestan province, the official IRNA news agency quoted the president of the health network in Selseleh county as saying, “The number of Covid-19 cases in this county has increased sixfold in comparison to previous months. We have difficulties providing Covid-19 patients with medication, and the hospitals’ rations are delivered on a daily basis. Five counties of Delfan, Dorud, Poldokhtar, and Kuhdasht are in very bad conditions.”
The provincial governor of Ilam province said on Wednesday, “The spread of the virus and the surprising increase in the number of cases has caused a severe shortage of facilities in hospitals. Therefore, we must inevitably set up field hospitals.” (Source: Tasnim News Agency, November 11)
The dean of Ilam Medical Sciences University said, “In the past 24 hours, there were 11 coronavirus deaths in the province, of which 10 were in the city of Ilam.” (Source: ISNA, November 11)
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
