Iran Sets New Daily Record for Coronavirus Deaths
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
TEHRAN – Iran reported 415 coronavirus deaths yesterday, its highest one-day total, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV, pushing total deaths in the Middle Eastern country hit hardest by the pandemic to 33,714.
Lari said 6,824 new coronavirus infections had been identified in the previous 24 hours, pushing the total number of cases in Iran to 558,648.
“According to definitive laboratory findings from yesterday to October 26, 2020, newly diagnosed patients with COVID-19 reached to 6824 cases out of whom 2,490 of patients, were hospitalized,” Lari stated.
She added that so far 558,648 people in the country have been infected with the coronavirus, 5,012 COVID-19 patients are in critical condition.
“So far, 4,821,681 COVID-19 diagnosis tests have been conducted across the country,” the Health Ministry spokeswoman noted.
She pointed out that Provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, East Azerbaijan, South Khorasan, Semnan, Qazvin, Lorestan, Ardabil, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Gilan, Bushehr, Zanjan, Ilam, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Alborz, West Azerbaijan, Markazi, Kerman, North Khorasan, Hamadan, Yazd, and Kordestan are regarded as red zones.
Hormozgan, Fars, Golestan, and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces are also regarded as orange and yellow zones.
Meanwhile Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced yesterday that the country’s scientists have succeeded in production of rapid coronavirus-diagnosis tests which will enter the market soon.
“We are importing 3mln rapid test kits from South Korea with test results appearing in 20 to 25 minutes, which do not need (PCR) system. Of course, production of the home-made version of the tests has fortunately ended too and we will supply them to the market to carry out 100,000 tests on a daily basis as the most successful method to diagnose coronavirus rapidly,” Namaki said.
He also underlined the Iranian researchers’ successful studies on domestically developed coronavirus vaccine, saying that the vaccine’s clinical tests on humans will start in the next few weeks.
Earlier this month, Namaki said that the country had successfully tested its coronavirus vaccine on animals, adding that the human test phase would begin in mid-November.
“The COVID-19 vaccine has been tested successfully on animals and we will start its human test phase in mid-November,” Namaki said, adding, “We have discussed how to make the coronavirus vaccine with the World Health Organization (WHO), and you will hear good news in the near future.”
