Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, December 20, 2020—Over 188,700 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 Sunday afternoon local time, December 20. The official death toll declared by the regime stands at 53,625, around a third of the actual figure.
The coronavirus death toll in various provinces include: 46,346 in Tehran, 11,135 in Isfahan, 9700 in Khuzestan, 7623 in Lorestan, 7405 in Qom, 7342 in East Azarbaijan, 7072 in Mazandaran, 5742 in Fars, 4980 in Alborz, 4621 in Sistan & Baluchestan, 4009 in Kerman, 3938 in Markazi (Central), 3337 in Yazd, 2918 in North Khorasan, 1995 in Hormozgan, 1947 in Qazvin, and 1761 in South Khorasan. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
Infographic-PMOI/MEK reports over 188,700 coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in Iran
While according to regime officials and experts, there is a severe shortage in the number of nurses increases the number of Covid-19 fatalities, regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shed crocodile tears for Iran’s nurses through his remarks today, saying “nurses are angels above patients.” While a large portion of the Iranian people’s money is plundered by Khamenei and the regime’s various apparatuses under his control, he placed the blame for the ongoing crisis on “officials” without mentioning any names.
“Officials should live up to their duties. They need to be thinking… Three or four years ago I told our officials that we need to hire around 30,000 nurses. They need to seriously follow up on this issue. This is a dire matter,” Khamenei said on Sunday.
“It appears that nurses, in addition to the praise of our society, need urgent and fundamental attention to their status quo,” said the deputy chair of the Nursing Apparatus Organization on Sunday. “The fact is that time and again nurses only receive mere promises, yet none are followed through. This renders nothing but fatigue for our nurses that are the leading force in our health apparatus. The two main issues of a shortage in our nurses and the changes needed in our nursing apparatus must be our priority in regards to time and what plans to carry out,” the official added, according to the regime's official IRNA news agency.
“The main issue is discrimination. One physician earns 200-300 million rials [$975] a month and a nurse receives a mere 2 million rials [less than $8]!” said a member of the Nursing Apparatus Organization in Isfahan on Saturday. No one is being held accountable for this discrimination. None of the nurses know based on what index is this salary determined and why there is such a large gap,” the official added, according to the state-controlled Farhikhtegan newspaper.
“During the past ten months 291 Covid-19 patients have lost their lives,” said the deputy dean of Shiraz Medical Sciences University in Fars province on Sunday. “More than half of our nurses have contracted Covid-19,” said the dean of this university, according to the Mehr news agency, an outlet linked to the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
More than 1000 nurses have contracted Covid-19 in Khuzestan province, according to the director general of the Khuzestan Nursing Apparatus. “Khuzestan has the lowest number of nurses across the country. A shortage in nurses leads to a drop in the quality of health care provided and this is our nurses’ main concern,” the official said on Sunday. “The nurse-bed ratio in the hospitals covered by the Ahvaz Medical Sciences University is 0.6. Since the global average is 1.5 nurses for each bed, this is a major issue in our precinct. Currently nurses are receiving the lowest wages among government employees. The last time they were paid was back in June and during the past six months their paychecks have constantly been delayed,” the official added, according to the semi-official ISNA 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
“One year after the Covid-19 pandemic and while nurses in other countries are being vaccinated at a gradual rate, in Iran there is no blueprint for our medical professionals to be vaccinated. Their paychecks have been constantly postponed, and the promises provided to them have all been forgotten,” according to a Sunday article in the state-controlled Hamdeli daily.
On the other hand, delays seen from the regime’s officials in importing the coronavirus vaccine continues. Head of the Medical Apparatus Organization wrote a letter on Sunday to Health Minister Saied Namaki. “With respect to our country’s dear scientists in their effort to produce a vaccine, time is of the essence in confronting this illness and considering the production and use of the vaccine in various countries, it is necessary for all our efforts to be focused on purchasing and beginning the vaccination process in a specific time period,” the letter reads, according to a Sunday report wired by according to the regime's official IRNA news agency.
“Business shutdowns resulting from Covid-19 will cost $32-48 billion up to March 2021. However, purchasing two doses of the most expensive vaccine available for more than 84 million people will cost a maximum of $5 billion. And this is not taking into consideration the costs of medical care and psychological treatment that will be imposed on us due to the delay in purchasing the vaccine,” a Sunday article reads in the state-controlled Doniyaye Eghtesad daily.
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
