COVID-19 pandemic in Iran

COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
Coronavirus patients at the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationIran
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China (initial reports)[1]
Arrival date19 February 2020
(4 years, 8 months, 4 weeks and 2 days ago)
Confirmed cases7,627,863[2][3]
Recovered7,466,311 (updated 23 July 2023) [3]
Deaths
Fatality rate1.93%
Government website
behdasht.gov.ir

The COVID-19 pandemic in Iran has resulted in 7,627,863[2] confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 146,837[2] deaths.

On 19 February 2020, Iran reported its first confirmed cases of infections in Qom.[5] The virus may have been brought to the country by a merchant from Qom who had travelled to China.[6] In response, the Government of Iran cancelled public events and Friday prayers; closed schools, universities, shopping centres, bazaars, and holy shrines; and banned festival celebrations.[7][8] Economic measures were also announced to help families and businesses, and the pandemic is credited with compelling the government to make an unprecedented request for an emergency loan of five billion US dollars from the International Monetary Fund.[9] The government initially rejected plans to quarantine entire cities and areas, and heavy traffic between cities continued ahead of Nowruz, despite the government's intention to limit travel. The government later announced a ban on travel between cities following an increase in the number of new cases.[8][10] Government restrictions were gradually eased starting in April. The number of new cases fell to a low on 2 May, but increased again in May as restrictions were eased, with a new peak of cases reported on 4 June,[11] and new peaks in the number of deaths reported in July.[12] Despite the increase, the Iranian government stated that it had no option but to keep the economy open;[13] the economy of Iran was already affected by US sanctions, and its GDP fell by a further 15% due to the COVID-19 pandemic by June 2020.[14]

Some early outside estimates of the numbers of COVID-19 deaths are much higher than those from government sources,[15][16][17][18] while the People's Mujahedin of Iran has consistently claimed a much higher death toll.[19] Leaked data suggest that 42,000 people had died with COVID-19 symptoms by 20 July compared to 14,405 reported that date.[20] The government has also been accused of cover-ups, censorship, and mismanagement.[21][22][23][6] However, the World Health Organization says that it has not seen problems with Iran's reported figures,[24] although a WHO official later said that due to limited testing in the early months, the number of cases reported in Iran may represent only about 20% of the real number until more tests could be conducted.[25] Later increase in the number of cases in May was attributed to increased testing by the Iranian government.[26] The official number of cases surpassed 200,000 with over 10,000 deaths recorded by June 2020.[27] President Rouhani, however, estimated that 25 million may have become infected by July 2020, considerably higher than the official count.[28] Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iran account for around a quarter of all cases in the MENA region by mid-July.[29]

Multiple government ministers and senior officials have been diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 positive, as well as 23 members of the Parliament (around 8% of all MPs) by 3 March.[30] At least 17 Iranian politicians and officials had died from the virus by 25 March.[31]

  1. ^ Wright R. "How Iran Became a New Epicenter of the Coronavirus Outbreak". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Mathieu E, Ritchie H, Rodés-Guirao L, Appel C, Giattino C, Hasell J, Macdonald B, Dattani S, Beltekian D, Ortiz-Ospina E, Roser M (2020–2024). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Iran Coronavirus". Worldometer. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  4. ^ "The Economist's excess deaths model". The Economist (CDC). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_Iran_19Feb_first2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "How Iran Became a New Epicenter of the Coronavirus Outbreak". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Coronavirus pandemic 'could kill millions' in Iran". Al Jazeera. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Coronavirus: Iran is facing a major challenge controlling the outbreak". BBC. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  9. ^ Filkins D (18 May 2020). "The Twilight of the Iranian Revolution". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference quarantine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Coronavirus: Iran fears second wave after surge in cases". BBC. 4 June 2020.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference july peak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference reuters 6june was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Iran's Loses 15 Percent Of GDP Due To Coronavirus - Minister". Radio Farda. 8 June 2020.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference AJE_Qom_coverup_50deaths was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC_210_deaths_Iran was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference france24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Weinthal B (7 April 2020). "Iran has 500,000 people infected with coronavirus". The Jerusalem Post.
  19. ^ Hamideh Taati (20 July 2020). "Iran: Coronavirus Update, Over 73,600 Deaths, July 20, 2020, 6:00 PM CEST".
  20. ^ "Coronavirus: Iran cover-up of deaths revealed by data leak". BBC. 3 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Brian Hook Says Iran 'Lied To Own People' Over Coronavirus". Radio Farda. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  22. ^ "US envoy says Iran 'lied to own people' over coronavirus". The Times of India. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Iran's government and media lied about coronavirus outbreak". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Iran's coronavirus updates cannot 'entirely' be trusted, expert says". cnbc. 2 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference WHO estimate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference reuters 1 june was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haghdoost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference reuters july2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ "Iran eyes remdesivir production as Covid-19 cases rise". Middle East Business Intelligence. 16 July 2020.
  30. ^ Henley J (3 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Iran steps up efforts as 23 MPs said to be infected". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  31. ^ "Coronavirus in Iran: At least 17 regime officials dead and 12 infected". Al Arabiya Network. 25 March 2020.