Daily Covid-19 Cases Hit Record High of 3,700

EghtesadOnline: Iran’s overnight Covid-19 cases hit a record high of over 3,700 on Tuesday, as a third wave of infections continued its relentless spread across the country.

News ID: ۷۵۱۰۷۳

23 September 2020

The 3,712 newly identified cases took the national tally to over 429,000, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, was quoted as saying by ISNA.

“Over the past 24 hours, 178 coronavirus patients lost their lives and the total number of fatalities reached 24,656,” Lari said.

Commenting on the jump in new cases, Health Minister Saeed Namaki expressed concern over the third wave hitting certain parts of the country and said, “Lack of adherence to safety measures has led to the resurgence of the disease.”

The ministry’s spokeswoman also pointed to the downtrend in following health protocols and wearing facemasks among the general public.

Lari said, “Let’s not forget that wearing face covering is a social obligation. We need to promote a sense of social responsibility for the health of others.”

According to Shahnam Arashi, the deputy of Health Ministry’s Center for Viral Disease Control, hospitalizations in the central city of Qom, the epicenter of the outbreak, and the capital Tehran have doubled over the past two weeks.

The rate of adherence to social distancing has dropped to 40% across Tehran Province, its governor-general, Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandpey, said.

Bandpey attributed the climb in hospitalizations to the daily one million trips via the subway system and 800,000 via public buses, where it is impossible to observe social distancing.

Diagnostic tests administered to track down infections totaled 3.8 million on Tuesday.

Over 363,000 have recovered from the respiratory illness and 3,922 are hospitalized in intensive care units, Lari said.

The number of Covid-19 patients worldwide has surged to 31.5 million on Tuesday, while the death toll crossed 970,000.