Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, December 17, 2020—Over 186,900 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 470 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 Thursday afternoon local time, December 17. The official death toll declared by the regime stands at 53,095, around a third of the actual figure.
The coronavirus death toll in various provinces include: 45,926 in Tehran, 12,845 in Razavi Khorasan, 10,975 in Isfahan, 7550 in Lorestan, 7085 in West Azarbaijan, 6671 in Gilan, 5657 in Fars, 4632 in Golestan, 4591 in Sistan & Baluchistan, 3959 in Kerman, 3946 in Kermanshah, 3894 in North Khorasan, 2272 in Ardabil, 1975 in Hormozgan, 1930 in Zanjan, 1741 in South Khorasan, and 1445 in Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
Infographic-PMOI/MEK reports over 186,900 coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in Iran
“Of the roughly 145,000 nurses across the country around 60,000 have contracted Covid-19, 6,000 are in quarantine and around 100 have lost their lives,” said the head of the regime’s Nursing Apparatus Organization on Thursday. “The most important issue facing the nursing society is a serious shortage in our workforce. For around 170,000 hospital beds we only have 145,000 nurses and this ratio is around 0.8 while it should stand at 2.5 nurses for each bed. As a result, there should be a 250 percent increase in the number of employed nurses to reach standard levels. If this trend of increasing hospital beds and retiring nurses without being replaced continues, we will be facing even more shortages and more than any others it is our patients that will be suffering,” the official added, according to the regime's official IRNA news agency.
“On the one hand people are being told to refrain from commuting and taking part in gatherings. On the other hand, we are witnessing many contradictions regarding how our apparatuses are functioning, such as the banking system, during these Covid-19 conditions,” said the director of the regime’s Supreme Medical Apparatus Council on Thursday. “Instead of holding the people responsible and kicking the ball into their court, we should be rethinking our policymaking and pandemic management methods, and present plans that are adaptable to the country’s status quo,” the official added, according to the Mehr news agency, an outlet linked to the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
“Wherever we have a large population concentration there will be a high death rate,” said Deputy Health Minister Ghasem Jan Babaie on Wednesday. “We in the northern, northwest, East Azarbaijan, Ardabil and more in central provinces such as Yazd, Isfahan, Hamedan and Qom have a larger population concentration and more Covid-19 cases. In some cities, an unconfirmed herbal medicine resulted the entire city population to contract the virus and many people lost their lives,” he added in an interview with state TV.
“The disastrous experience we had during the months of October, November and December showed that in Tehran many of the indexes increased significantly,” said Alireza Zali, head of the Tehran Covid-19 Task Force on Wednesday. “In a short period, conditions in Tehran province change dramatically. To this day there are 3100 coronavirus patients in Tehran province are receiving treatment and 1174 are in ICUs. In the past 24 hours 374 people have been hospitalized and 110 placed in ICUs. More than 5200 people with coronavirus symptoms sought medical treatment in our hospitals. These numbers indicate that conditions in Tehran remain unstable when it comes to the Covid-19 spread. The presence of 1174 patients in ICUs is an alarm bell for the coming days in Tehran,” he added, according to the Mehr news agency.
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 coronavirus spread in Chahrmahal & Bakhtiari province remains very active,” said the dean of Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari Medical Sciences University on Thursday. “One fiftieth or 1/100th of the provincial population are coronavirus carriers. Any gathering of more than 50 people there are those with and without Covid-19 symptoms,” according to the Javan daily, an outlet linked to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
“The head of the Covid-19 Task Force’s Scientific Committee had said that due to the lack of assets and necessary circumstances Iran’s airplanes and transportation systems cannot import the Pfizer vaccine and that is why we refused to receive it. All the while, the head of the country’s National Aviation Organization said two Iranian airlines are ready to import any type of vaccines, including Pfizer. While people are seeking to receive this vaccine as their savior, it appears that importing and providing this vaccine is a complicated issue in Iran,” according to a Thursday piece in the state-controlled Eghtesad Saramad newspaper.
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
