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The Middle East was one of the first regions to hit by the Crown epidemic after it spread outside China last year, and the epidemic has exacerbated current crises caused by conflict and forced migration.
Iran recorded its first infection with the coronavirus in February 2020, which is one of the first outbreaks outside of Wuhan. In a matter of days, it became a global hub as hospitals filled with patients.
Figures from the Iranian government indicate that 60,000 people have died since the outbreak began, but the actual number is likely to be much higher, says Behnam Bin Taliblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“I saw them deny it first, then downplay it,” Talblue told Voice of America. The challenge is that the health and well-being of its people is not the number one priority of the ruling regime. “
When the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11, the virus had spread throughout the Middle East.
In Yemen and Syria, countries experiencing deep-rooted conflict, the epidemic has increased pressure on fragile health systems. In May, the United Nations warned that the Yemeni health system, which had been severely weakened by years of fighting, had basically collapsed.
The situation is not stable
In Lebanon, the economic and political crises exacerbated by the epidemic and the August explosion in the port of Beirut, brought the country to the brink. By September, the outbreaks had worsened in several refugee camps in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
While the third waves of the epidemic swept through Europe, the United States and Latin America in late 2020, the Middle East has performed better than the World Health Organization feared, but it warns that the situation remains volatile.
Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told a press conference last month that “around 6 million people in the region have contracted the virus” since the start of the epidemic.
“Unfortunately, some 140,000 people have died,” he added. In our region, where people and health institutions constantly suffer wars, natural disasters and diseases, this virus requires all our efforts ”.
Dr Peter Drobak, a global health expert at the University of Oxford, says that some Middle Eastern countries did the right thing when they received Corona vaccines early.
Many countries in the region are using Chinese and Russian-made vaccines and hope to benefit from the global Kovacs program, which provides vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization urges countries to be vigilant, as new virus mutations may be more contagious and resistant to vaccines.
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