Radio Farda’s ongoing investigation of the coronavirus toll in Iran shows 77,782 persons have been isolated or hospitalized with coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, as of late Friday, April 3. That is 24,000 more than the official government figure.
The collected data sums up figures released by local officials and the Health Ministry in Tehran as well as media reports across Iran. It also shows that 5,915 persons in Iran have so far fallen victim to the novel coronavirus and its related deadly disease, COVID-19.
The Health Ministry on Friday put the number of deaths at 3,294 and 53,183 infected.
The Islamic Republic authorities are still reluctant to disclose the number of people who died of the disease in the provinces of Tehran and Qom.
Furthermore, there is no official report available separating the number of victims in each city and province.
The Ministry of Health insists that it only provides figures based on the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, after three tests at various intervals. The issue is that testing is limited and many cases go unreported.
Earlier, President Hassan Rouhani had ordered the Ministry to provide separate reports on the number of the victims in each province. The order has fallen on deaf ears, so far.
In the meantime, several members of parliament, have repeatedly asserted that the real number of the victims is much higher than what the Ministry of Health claims.
In the province of Tehran, where the capital city is located, more than 1,200 have died of COVID-19, so far.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Coronavirus Combat Taskforce in Tehran Province Alireza Zali says, based on a poll conducted by the task force, 51 percent of the people in Tehran believe they will not contract the virus and forty percent of the people do not believe staying home will curb the outbreak.
"The second wave of Coronavirus outbreak is on its way, as the Iranian new year holidaymakers have started returning home," Zali has cautioned.