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Al Jazeera quoted the country’s autopsy authority as saying that 628 Iranians had died between February 20 and April 6 after consuming toxic methanol in hopes of getting rid of the coronavirus.
According to published reports, alcohol poisoning killed just six people in the country last year.
According to an official report released earlier this month, the incidence of alcohol poisoning in Iran has increased 10-fold this year compared to last year due to the coronavirus epidemic.
A spokesman for Iran’s health ministry, Kianosh Jahanpur, said 5,011 people had been poisoned by drinking methanol.
Of these, 525 died in the hospital and the rest outside the hospital.
Jahanpur said around 90 people have lost their sight or suffer eye damage due to poisoning.
Hussein Hassanian, an adviser to the health ministry, said the number of people who had lost their sight could be much higher.
The coronavirus outbreak is among the worst in the Middle East. So far, the country has identified 91,000 infected people and 5,708 dead.
Methanol is odorless and tasteless. Drinking this toxic alcohol relaxes the body’s organs and damages the brain. Symptoms such as chest pain, nausea, shortness of breath, blindness, and even fainting can occur after drinking.
Although alcohol is generally prohibited in Iran, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians in the country can drink alcohol privately.
There are currently 40 alcohol factories in Iran that mainly manufacture drugs and disinfectants.
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