Iran Refuses To Release
Detailed Coronavirus Statistics
April 16, 2020 Topic: Health
Region: Middle East Blog Brand: Middle East Watch
Tags: IranCoronavirusHealthEconomyCOVID-19
Iran Refuses To Release
Detailed Coronavirus Statistics
by Matthew Petti Follow
Matthew Petti on Twitter L
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/iran-refuses-release-detailed-coronavirus-statistics-145002
Iran’s deputy health minister
Iraj Harirchi said that releasing a province-by-province breakdown of
coronavirus statistics would create the “risk of further spread of the virus”
on Thursday, after three days of refusing to release the breakdown.
Iran’s deputy
health minister Iraj Harirchi said that releasing a province-by-province
breakdown of coronavirus statistics would create the “risk of further spread of
the virus” on Thursday, after three days of refusing to release the breakdown.
Iranian authorities have been
accused of a lack of transparency in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, and
a recent report commissioned by Iran’s parliament said that the official
statistics were likely lower than the true number of coronavirus cases and
deaths. The health ministry, however, is releasing even less detailed
information on the extent of the outbreak.
“Releasing
the provincial statistics would result in travel from provinces with a high
prevalence of the coronavirus to provinces with lower or moderate prevalence,
and as a result, these regions will face the danger of increased spread of the
virus,” Haririchi told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
He added that interpretation of
scientific data “should be done in a general and national manner, and should be
announced to the people with transparency.”
Harirchi had
previously made international headlines at the beginning of the outbreak when he denied
rumors of a coronavirus coverup on television while visibly ill. He tested
positive for the coronavirus and was quarantined soon after.
The novel coronavirus has
killed 4,869 and sickened 77,995 people in Iran, including 52,229 patients who
have recovered and 3,594 who are still in intensive care, according to
statistics released by health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur on Thursday.
A report by the Parliamentary
Research Center, an organization that provides research for members of Iran’s
parliament, claimed that the government has undercounted coronavirus deaths by
nearly one half and the number of cases by an order of magnitude.
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However, the report did not
allege a coverup. Instead, it blamed a lack of comprehensive testing.
A health
ministry official acknowledged that the government has undercounted coronavirus
statistics, but said that limits on the number of test kits available
have made it impossible to accurately estimate the number of infections
anywhere in the world, according to BBC Persian.
The Iranian government is
attempting to roll out a “smart distancing” program, which supposedly allows
businesses to reopen while avoiding the further spread of the coronavirus.
Critics inside the government have warned that the country is unprepared
to implement the measures needed to prevent a second wave of coronavirus
infections.
The health
ministry said on Thursday that the daily death rate has continued to fall, giving
authorities reason to be optimistic.
A recent survey commissioned by
the Tehran city government shows that an increasing number of Iranians trust
the official statistics on the coronavirus pandemic as of the beginning of
April, although about 46% of people still have low trust in the government.
A more worrying sign has
emerged from Mazandaran, which had seen the fourth-largest outbreak in the
country. Doctors in the northern province reported an increase in the
number of coronavirus cases for the first time after three weeks of declining
caseloads.
“The increase in the number of
outpatient and suspected coronavirus disease referrals to medical centers in
Mazandaran Province in recent days shows that people do not pay attention to
the health protocols,” Dr. Seyed Abbas Mousavi, president of the Mazandaran
University of Medical Sciences, told the Islamic Republic News Agency.
“Not only can neglecting the
health protocols increase the number of patients, but the [second round of]
shelter-in-place quarantine will be harsher and last longer than the first
time, in which case staying at home will also be harder than the first time,”
Dr. Baba Mahmudi, head of the infectious disease department at the university,
added.
Matthew Petti is a national
security reporter at the National Interest. Follow
him on Twitter: @matthew_petti.
Image: Reuters.
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