Iran is facing among the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the world. Today, as families commemorate Persian New Year, Nowruz, there is concern the real scale of the virus is being downplayed by the federal government and could rapidly get much worse.
Mohammad has actually been working non-stop considering that the coronavirus outbreak to save the lives of his patients. The healthcare facility medical professional, who works in the northern province of Gilan, has not seen his household for 14 days. He has lost colleagues. He has lost pals – including his previous mentor, his teacher at medical school who recently succumbed to coronavirus.
” It’s not just our health center. The coronavirus break out has paralysed our whole health system,” states Mohammad.
” The spirits of staff is really low. Our households are so anxious and we are under massive pressure.”
Mohammad’s name has been changed due to the fact that speaking up versus the government in Iran risks arrest. Numerous medical professionals from throughout the nation’s northern provinces have spoken to the BBC about the alarming conditions they are dealing with, and how badly they believe the government has actually handled the crisis.
” We don’t even have enough masks. Our medical personnel are passing away every day,” says Mohammad.
” I do not know how many individuals passed away but the federal government is attempting to conceal the true scale of the crisis. They lied in the early days of the outbreak.”
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A medical professional supports a patient to healthcare facility in Iran.
In just 16 days, Covid-19 spread throughout all 31 provinces in Iran.
On top of this, 16 nations declare they have cases of the infection that originated in Iran. They are Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Pakistan, Georgia, Estonia, New Zealand, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Qatar and Armenia.
Nevertheless, critics of the authorities say the federal government of Iran has actually continued to minimize the break out.
In its very first announcement on 19 February, the federal government informed people not to stress over the infection. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Iran’s “enemies” of overemphasizing the threat.
A week later, as the variety of cases and deaths rose, President Hassan Rouhani echoed the Supreme Leader’s words and warned against the “conspiracies and fear-mongering of our opponents”. He stated these were designed to bring the country to a standstill and urged Iranians to continue their daily lives and carry on going to work.
Most recently, state-controlled TV programmes revealed the coronavirus could be a US-manufactured “bioweapon”, with the Supreme Leader tweeting about a “biological attack”.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran is the third worst-hit country behind China and Italy.
Medical professionals from 3 of the worst-hit provinces in Iran – Gilan, Golestan and Mazandarn – have told the BBC that there are really couple of coronavirus testing sets, and medical materials are minimal – consisting of standard medicines, oxygen tanks, sterilised masks, and protective scrubs and gloves.
Medical professionals are now having to set out momentary field healthcare facilities.
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Some factories in the capital Tehran are now producing medical equipment 24 hours a day.
One medical professional, an A&E medic from Golestan Province, says her hospital receives an average of 300 clients a day.
And just those who are confessed to health center are counted in the main stats.
The physician explains having actually lost five clients a day on average over the previous 2 weeks.
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Medical personnel generate another client thought of Coronavirus.
Also devastating for medical staff is the loss of their own. Doctor said they had actually just recently lost a variety of associates.
One heartbreaking case was that of 25- year-old Narjes Khanalizadeh, a nurse from the northern city of Lahijan who passed away towards completion of February.
An image of her went viral on social media. The government rejected she had passed away of Covid-19
Narjes Khanalizadeh collapsed on 23 February and died two days later on.
State-controlled TELEVISION c