Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, July 8, 2020—Over 67,600 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 342 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, July 8. The official death count declared by the regime stands at 10,084, around a sixth of the actual figure.
The death toll in various provinces include: 17,050 in Tehran, 4,890 in Razavi Khorasan, 4,050 in Qom, 2,470 in Lorestan, 1,970 in East Azerbaijan, 1,735 in Kermanshah, 1,575 in Hamedan, and 650 in Zanjan. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
While the number of COVID-19 victims continue to rise with each passing day and the regime refuses to provide any support for the people, Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani literally resorted to threatening the population in his cabinet remarks on Wednesday. If people don’t abide by health protocols local officials will have the authority to impose restrictions, Rouhani said.
Over 67,600 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran
“We witnessed an unacceptable and unprecedented number of deaths [on Tuesday]. We are now still in the middle of this game… lifting restrictions resulted in 200 deaths in the span of the last 24 hours. If comprehensive measures are not taken, rest assured our circumstances will deteriorate further… The coronavirus vaccine will not be available at all in the next 12 months,” said Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi on Tuesday, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency.
“On some days we have had 300 COVID-19 deaths and you see the Health Ministry’s stats being lower the reasons is that these numbers refer to individuals who lose their lives in hospitals. However, those who die in their homes or on their way to the hospital are not seen in these figures,” said Mohammad Ali Mohseni, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Committee on July 5. “Fear of not being able to put food on the table due to the lockdown forced people into the streets again. It was not that they were not afraid. They were afraid of their family’s future and not being able to make ends meet,” he said, according to the state-run Roydad24 outlet.
In Tehran officials held an emergency COVID-19 Task Force meeting.
“During the past few days Tehran has been in very fragile conditions. The number of new cases, deaths and those who need to be hospitalized have been increasing exponentially during the past ten days. All members who took part in today’s meeting expressed concerns… The number of people seeking treatment in medical centers have increased. Therefore, we are in need of more serious intervention,” said Tehran COVID-19 Task Force chief Alireza Zali on Wednesday, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
An infectious disease specialist at the Taleghani hospital said, “The hospitals are faced with a shortage of beds and an influx of incoming patients. The continuation of this situation will cause a challenge for the country’s medical care system… If the exponential growth of cases is not contained, we won’t be able to accept and treat new patients, and it will result in an increase in the number of deaths… and given the exhaustion of the medical workers, the healthcare system is losing its ability to restore its capacity in terms of equipment and human resources…. If the virus is spreading at such rates in the warm season, it will definitely spread faster during the cold season.” (Source: ISNA news agency, July 8)
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
Dr. Hamid Souri, epidemiologist and member of the Coronavirus Task Force, said, “We can’t expect to prevent the spread of the virus by giving recommendations and information to people and fully blame the people for the outbreak. This is not fair. It is the duty of the government and related organizations to plan for the containment of the disease and have the right policies and use the tools they have at their disposal to control the coronavirus… The deaths per capita in our country is double the global average. The global average is 65 deaths per 1 million population, but in our country, this figure reaches 135… Currently, our country ranks second in terms of coronavirus deaths.” (Source: Fars News Agency, July 8)
The deputy dean of Tehran Medical Sciences University said, “We’re returning to the critical situation we faced in February… There are 485 coronavirus patients under treatment in the hospitals covered by Tehran Medical Sciences University, 177 of whom are in intensive care units… Some coronavirus patients need special care and we are waiting for ICU beds to be freed.” (Source: Mehr News Agency, July 7)
In Lorestan province, one of the healthcare workers said, “I took 200-300 coronavirus victims to the morgue washing center, ranging from young to old… the beds are not even empty for one hour. As soon as a patient is discharged, another patient is brought into the emergency room and we must be prepared.” (Source: Aflak TV, July 7)
In Kermanshah province, the dean of the medical sciences university confirmed that the number of deaths in late June/July has increased by a factor of 12 in comparison to February, ISNA news agency reported. “The number of hospitalized patients has increased three- or fourfold,” the dean said.
In Alborz province, the deputy dean of the medical sciences university said, “Since June 4, we’ve witnessed an increase in the spread of the virus. In recent nights, the number of incoming and hospitalized patients have increased dramatically and the previous records of Alborz province during the peak of the virus have been broken.” (Source: Fars News Agency, July 8)
In Ardebil province, the deputy dean of the medical science university said, “The spread of coronavirus in this province is fast increasing… In the past day, the medical centers of the province have seen the greatest number of hospitalized patients in the past month.” (Source: IRNA, July 8)
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map
