Covid kills one person every two minutes in Iran, media estimate, as country records deadliest day in pandemic

Iranian media have estimated that one person succumbs to Covid-19 every two minutes there. The report comes just as the Islamic Republic experienced a record tally of daily Covid fatalities.

Iranian state TV shared the grisly statistics on Monday, estimating that “every two seconds one person gets infected in Iran and almost every two minutes one person dies from the coronavirus.”

The stark figures came as Iran suffered a record high number of Covid fatalities. On Monday, 588 coronavirus-linked fatalities were registered, up from a high of 542 deaths on August 8.

Covid case detections have also been ticking up, with 40,808 cases reported on Monday. The new surge in cases has prompted the designation of most of Iran’s provinces as red-alert regions. Under this category of restrictions, only essential businesses are allowed to operate.

The Delta variant – a mutant coronavirus strain first detected in India – has been presenting new challenges to Tehran since June. The spread of Delta cases has impacted Iran’s healthcare system, with over 6,500 people being treated in intensive care units on Monday alone.

Iran’s vaccination campaign is still seriously lagging behind those of other nations. Across the Islamic Republic’s 83-million population, just over 13 million first doses of a coronavirus vaccine have been administered, while the figure for second shots stands lower, at 3.1 million.

Tehran has previously condemned the US for blocking vaccination access, stating that Washington’s sanctions amount to “medical terrorism.” However, Iran has produced two of its own vaccines, with senior officials promoting and opting for home-made shots.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Iran has recorded almost 4.2 million cases, while Covid-19 has claimed over 94,603 lives in the country.

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