COVID-19 Pandemic: Almost Entire Iran in ‘Red State’

Deputy Health minister Iraj Harirchi said the capital, Tehran, has now turned into the source of spreading the virus to the entire country.

“As long as the number of people hospitalized does not drop, we will be witnessing some 200 deaths [per 24 hours],” he added while commenting about the latest situation of the COVID-19 in the country.

He underlined between 5 and 10 percent of those hospitalized die, and around 5 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalized.

“We hospitalize about 4,000 people suspicious of having contracted coronavirus or having tested positive for the virus,” he said.
The deputy minister underlined that some 600 people are hospitalized in Tehran alone every day.

He stressed the need to observe health protocols while mentioning that there have been a few public places which have failed to abide by health directives properly.

Harirchi also said the percentage of people using face masks in Iran has increased, urging citizens to keep using masks to help stem the spread of the virus.

The top official, meanwhile, noted that a vaccine for the disease is unlikely to be distributed across the globe at least for a year.