Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, May 20, 2020—Over 43,100 people have died of the novel coronavirus in 319 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, May 20. The official death count declared by the regime is 7,183, less than a sixth of the actual figure.
The death toll in various provinces include: 7,025 in Tehran, 3,055 in Khuzestan, 3,045 in Razavi Khorasan, 1,315 in Sistan & Baluchistan, 1,245 in Hamedan, 1,235 in Lorestan, and 805 in Kurdistan. This is in addition to reports obtained from other provinces.
Over 43,100 dead of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran
Iranian regime Health Ministry spokesperson Kianush Jahanpour announced on Wednesday an increase of 2,346 new coronavirus cases across Iran. As a result, the daily number of new cases has nearly doubled in comparison to two weeks ago. All the while, regime President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, “In the past three months we have been advancing step by step. We have not been taking steps back anywhere. In general, we have had a good general advance against this dangerous virus, and we have nearly reached the containment phase.”
Inside #Iran’s Criminal Engineering of #Coronavirus Stats pic.twitter.com/FZmTl00bgx
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 19, 2020
Spokesperson of the Isfahan Medical Sciences University said the number of COVID-19 cases who have not been hospitalized increased by 50 percent in comparison to last week. “This is an alarm bell. If the people’s awareness regarding this illness decreases, we will be facing a new wave of COVID-19 across the province of Isfahan,” he said in remarks wired on Tuesday, May 19, by the Mehr news agency, an outlet affiliated to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). “409 coronavirus patients are hospitalized in two hospitals, of which 113 are in dire conditions,” he added.
“Coronavirus numbers are increasing in East Azerbaijan Province,” said the dean of Tabriz Medical Sciences University on Tuesday, according to the regime’s official IRNA news agency.
“The trend of increasing COVID-19 cases is very alarming,” said the governor of Mehdishahr in Semnan Province, east of Tehran, on Tuesday, according to the Fars news agency, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
“In April and May we have been witnessing a peak in the coronavirus illness in Sistan & Baluchistan Province. Forty percent of this province’s deaths were in this period… In the next few days the number of COVID-19 cases will most definitely rise significantly in the Najaf Abad district of the city of Khash,” said the deputy dean of Zahedan Medical Sciences University on Wednesday, according to the state-run Rooze No daily.
Alireza Zali, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force, reported that in the past 24 hours, 174 patients were hospitalized in the regular section of hospitals and 61 in special care units. “Cases show a slight increase in comparison to previous days and the declining curve has stopped,” Zali said, adding that in many cities that were considered low-risk, there has been a sudden spike in the number of cases. “In any city… the bitter scenario that we’re seeing in Khuzestan might repeat,” Zali said. (Sources: State TV, May 19, Hamshahri, May 20)
Eghtesad Saramad, a state-run newspaper, wrote, “The poor classes of the society are the main source of the spread of the virus. They are hosts who are present everywhere because if they don’t work one day, they will die of hunger. Quarantine has no meaning to them, and there’s no difference between dying of coronavirus or of hunger.”
Hamdeli, another state-run paper, described the post-coronavirus economic conditions as such: “According to recently announced estimates, the line of poverty for every family of four is 90 million rials. Considering the 28-million-rial minimum wage of many Iranian families, including workers and government employees, we can see a 60-million-rial gap between the income of families and the poverty line.”
The astounding rise in the #Coronavirus death toll and the upward trend of the crisis in many provinces in #Iran are due to the clerical regime's inhuman policies. The only thing the mullahs are concerned about is to preserve their disgraceful rule #COVID__19 pic.twitter.com/VjZjfwLp2H
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) May 18, 2020
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), reminded that while the people’s backs are bent under the strain of the coronavirus and poverty, Rouhani claims that the country has made immense progress in the past three months and has experienced no setbacks. “No one believes the ridiculous claims of the regime’s president,” Mrs. Rajavi said.
Iran coronavirus outbreak death toll interactive map