COVID-19 pandemic in Iran

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Iran reported its first confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections on 19 February 2020 in Qom. The virus may have been brought to the country by a merchant from Qom who had travelled to China.

COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
COVID-19 Outbreak Cases in Iran (Density).svg
     Confirmed cases 10–99

     Confirmed cases 100–499      Confirmed cases 500–999      Confirmed cases 1,000–9,999      Confirmed cases 10,000+

Last updated on 9 May 2020
DiseaseCOVID-19
LocationIran
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China (initial reports)[1]
Index caseQom
Arrival date19 February 2020
(4 years, 6 months, 1 week and 2 days ago)
Confirmed cases110,767[2]
Recovered88,357[2]
Deaths
6,733[2]
Government website
behdasht.gov.ir

Government response

In response to the coronavirus the government cancelled public events and Friday prayers. They closed schools, universities, shopping centres, bazaars, and holy shrines; and banned festival celebrations.[3][4]

Economic help were also announced to help families and businesses. The government at first did not support plans to quarantine entire cities and areas. The government later announced a ban on travel between cities following an increase in the number of new cases.[4]

Numbers

Some outside guesses of the numbers of COVID-19 deaths were much higher than those from government sources, with one saying over 40,000 deaths.[5][6] The government was also accused of cover-ups, censorship, and not handling the pandemic well.[7][8][9][10] However, the World Health Organization said that it had not seen problems with Iran's reported numbers.[11]

Cases and deaths

Many government ministers and senior officials have been diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 positive. As of 3 March 2020, 23 members of the Parliament (around 8% of all MPs) tested positive.[12]

At least 12 sitting or former Iranian politicians and officials had died from the virus by 17 March.[3]

Notable deaths

Some of the well known Iranians reported to have died from COVID-19 include:

COVID-19 Pandemic In Iran Media

References

  1. Wright, Robin. "How Iran Became a New Epicenter of the Coronavirus Outbreak". The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-iran-became-a-new-epicenter-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak. Retrieved 7 March 2020. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Iran Coronavirus". Worldometer. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Coronavirus pandemic 'could kill millions' in Iran. Al Jazeera. 17 March 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-kill-millions-iran-200317135500255.html. Retrieved 17 March 2020. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Coronavirus: Iran is facing a major challenge controlling the outbreak". BBC. 24 March 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51642926. Retrieved 24 March 2020. 
  5. "Iran: Coronavirus Fatalities Exceed 40,000 in 314 Cities". 8 May 2020.
  6. Weinthal, Benjamin (7 April 2020). "Iran has 500,000 people infected with coronavirus". Jerusalem Post.
  7. "Brian Hook Says Iran 'Lied To Own People' Over Coronavirus". Radio Farda. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  8. "US envoy says Iran 'lied to own people' over coronavirus". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  9. "Iran's government and media lied about coronavirus outbreak". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  10. "How Iran Became a New Epicenter of the Coronavirus Outbreak". The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-iran-became-a-new-epicenter-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak. Retrieved 5 March 2020. 
  11. "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.
  12. Henley, Jon (3 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Iran steps up efforts as 23 MPs said to be infected". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/03/iran-steps-up-coronavirus-efforts-as-23-mps-said-to-be-infected. Retrieved 3 March 2020. 
  13. "Iran's ex-ambassador to Vatican dies of coronavirus". Middle East Monitor. 27 February 2020. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200227-irans-ex-ambassador-to-vatican-dies-of-coronavirus/. Retrieved 6 March 2020. 
  14. "Two Iranian religious figures latest to die of coronavirus in Iran". Al Arabiya English. 2020-03-07. Archived from the original on 2020-03-15. Retrieved 2020-08-08.