Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, April 23, 2020—Over 34,200 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 296 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, April 23. The official death count declared by the regime is 5,481, less than a sixth of the actual figure.
The death toll in various provinces include: 5,815 in Tehran, 2,220 in Mazandaran, 1,605 in Khuzestan, 1,105 in Golestan, 770 in Lorestan, 535 in Sistan & Baluchistan, 530 in Kurdistan, 435 in Qazvin, 325 in Bushehr, and 289 in Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari. This is in addition to figures obtained from other provinces.
Over 34,200 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran
According to medical staff members in Rasht, northern Iran, from the beginning of the coronavirus crisis heads of various hospitals in this city ordered them to only hospitalize extremely critical patients while others are to be sent home with prescriptions. As a result, a large number of people have died in their homes and not registered in any tolls. At least six patients are dying each day in Razi Hospital alone yet the cause of deaths are registered as anything but COVID-19.
Khamenei and Rouhani’s greed is taking its toll on the Iranian population. The novel #coronavirus has taken the lives of more than 33,800 in #Iran as of April 22, 2020. pic.twitter.com/yyo46xHbHa
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) April 23, 2020
In Sistan & Baluchistan Province, southeast Iran, many coronavirus cases are dying in their homes and villages and buried in their own residential areas. In this impoverished area most of the locals, especially the villagers and immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan, have no access to hospitals.
In other reports, less than two weeks after Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani ordered people back to work, a new wave of coronavirus cases is being witnessed in Tehran and other provinces. Regime officials and authorities are claiming the cause of this new wave is people going on vacation during the Iranian calendar New Year (March 20) and the general public not abiding by health regulations.
“The illness is increasing in Khuzestan Province on a daily basis and the pace has increased in Ahvaz in comparison to last week,” said Khuzestan Governor Gholamreza Shariati to the regime’s official IRNA news agency on Thursday, April 23. “Considering the population of Ahvaz, this escalating trend can shutdown the entire province and is a significant alarm bell. Areas east and west of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Dezful, Ramshir and Abadan are reporting the highest number of cases. Coronavirus cases are also increasing in villages,” he added.
“Considering the fact that Khuzestan hosted a lesser number of guests and tourists during the [Iranian calendar] New Year holidays [around March 20], this province has now entered its coronavirus peak and unfortunately the number of cases in Khuzestan is increasing,” said Seyed Ahmad Avaie, member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) from the city of Dezful, to state-run ILNA news agency on Thursday, April 23.
In Tehran, Alireza Zali, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force, said, “Every day, we’re faced with a new wave of reopening [of businesses] and a transition toward the normalization of the situation. This is while we’re faced with a growing number of normal and critical patients and deaths in Tehran. We must pay attention that Tehran is different from other provinces and decisions for reopening of different sectors and organizations must be made in a different way. We must not be hasty in the gradual reopening of different sectors and jobs in Tehran because it will cause new challenges and problems.” (Source: IRNA, April 23)
Zali also stipulated that on Wednesday, 6,390 citizens referred to sanitation and care centers, and a number of critical patients were hospitalized in special care units.
The head of Tehran’s emergency organization said, “These days, coronavirus patients being transferred to hospitals were in more critical condition and need special care. We must immediately transfer them from emergency to ICU.”
Dr. Massoud Mardani, member of the Coronavirus Task Force said, “In cities such as cities in Western Azerbaijan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and Ilam, where the number of coronavirus deaths was not as much as Tehran, Gilan, and Qom, there is presently a second wave of deaths. If the situation stays this way, we will be faced with an even bigger wave of this sickness.”
Regarding the reason deaths in Tehran are much higher than smaller cities, he said, “In the counties and villages, many of the people don’t know they have contracted COVID-19 and when they die, their names are not registered as coronavirus victims… In some cities, we’re still stuck in the first peak and in other cities, we’ve passed the second peak. In yet others, we’re at the beginning of the second peak.”
The state-run Jahan-e Sanat daily wrote on Wednesday, “The political-security management of the coronavirus crisis has driven the country to a state that in the last week of April, a new wave of illness will start across the country and will continue until the end of June. The number of cases and deaths will grow. The spread of the virus will be so intense and unexpected that the only consequence will be war conditions. Then, only a strong military presence will control the virus and its economic and social effects.”
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
