The statistics it provided are dramatically higher than the official reports.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that about 25 million people in the country have already received COVID-19 and that an additional 30 to 35 million are at risk of becoming infected.
His comments caused surprise as the statistics he provided are dramatically higher than the official reports from Iran’s health ministry announced daily since the start of the pandemic.
According to the Tasnim News Agency, Sima Sadat Lari, a spokesman for the health ministry, said the official infection figure in the country was 271,606 on Saturday, about 1% of what President Rouhani announced in the special committee about a campaign against the epidemic. and based on research also conducted by the ministry of health.
However, both the president and the spokesperson for the health ministry said that around 14,000 people have lost their lives to the virus in the country.
The huge gap between infection numbers confused social media users who couldn’t help comparing the new comments to what they had been told about past national trends, and the global statistics from the World Health Organization showing around 14 million infections worldwide as of July 17.
“What the President said about 25 million infections is as much as double that of global infections, approximately 6.5 times more than infections in the United States and 12 times more than those in Brazil. It is approximately 92 times more than the number an official from the health ministry on coronavirus infection, “wrote Mehdi Babaei, an Iranian journalist on Twitter.
Other users asked questions about infection and death rate.
“How is it possible that of the 25 million infected people only 13,000 have died,” asked a Twitter user.
After a few weeks of confinement in the capital city of Tehran, when the country first faced the pandemic, most state companies and organizations continued to work while considering preventive measures.
However, as the country battles a second wave of infection, the special committee on the campaign against the epidemic re-imposed some restrictions both in Tehran and in other cities.
All conferences, gyms, cafes and teahouses are closed as of today, “said Col. Nader Moradi, who oversees the Tehran Police deputy for public places, according to the Iranian Student News Agency on Saturday.
Iran, one of the countries most affected in the Middle East by COVID-19, has faced challenges since the start of the pandemic in early February. But many officials resisted outright blockades as the country’s economy, partly imposed by U.S. sanctions, would not withstand another shock.
“Closing everything is the easiest way, but then hunger, poverty and unemployment will take people to the streets. It is such an illogical method that even the opposition media is no longer discussing it,” President Rouhani said last week. , after experts had advised another period of confinement.
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