Iran's Covid-19 Fatalities Exceed 29,000

EghtesadOnline: The number of fatalities caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in Iran topped 29,000 on Tuesday, as the country’s intensive care units have been filled to the brim with patients in critical condition.

News ID: ۷۵۱۲۷۱

14 October 2020

“Within 24 hours, 254 patients have lost their lives, taking the total death toll to 29,070,” the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Over 4,100 were confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus in a span of one day, which pushed the tally of cases to 508,000, Lari added.

Government Spokeswoman Ali Rabiei on Tuesday said the new fines imposed over the breach of coronavirus regulations were brought about by reckless “disregard for human life”.

Rabiei explained to a press conference, “The stringent measures, including the fines, are only there to protect citizen’s lives,” noting that the penalties serve to focus society’s attention on observing mitigation guidelines.

“Fines are not an end, they are a tool … a warning for self-control, to shape a collective consensus on following health regulations,” he added.

Earlier this week, the government began to hand out fines to individuals who refrain from wearing facemasks outdoor as well as indoor public spaces. Hefty fines have also been imposed on Covid-19 positive patients who breach self-isolation.

Drop in Adherence

Based on the latest data compiled by the Health Ministry, Rabiei said adherence to coronavirus safety guidelines has dropped to 42% across the country and to 32% in Tehran.

Despite public outreach campaigns, the government spokesman noted that the number of those who wear facemasks has decreased drastically.

“Some 6,700 schools throughout the country have moved classes online due to a lack of resources to follow health protocols,” Rabiei said.

For the third straight day, Iran registered over 250 deaths caused by the pandemic, with many health officials calling for more stringent measures to tackle a third wave of infections that have overwhelmed hospitals and infected many healthcare providers, causing a shortage of personnel.

“Covid-19 patients in serious condition reached 4,570 and nearly 412,000 have so far recovered from the infectious disease,” Lari said, adding that over 4.3 million tests have been carried out to detect infections in the past eight months.

According to the health official, 187 counties across Iran are on red alert, 45 of which are in critical condition.

Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus rose past 38.1 million and the death toll surpassed 1.086 million.