- Iran’s deputy health minister has been infected with coronavirus.
- The news comes an hour after the nation’s President asked citizens to not panic about the epidemic.
- Experts believe the number of cases in Iran to be much higher.
Iran’s Fars news agency has reported that the nation’s deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi has been confirmed to have coronavirus. The report comes merely an hour after Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani asked its citizens to remain calm as fears about the epidemic intensifies.
Almost overnight, Iran reported more than a dozen confirmed cases of coronavirus. Within a few days, the total tally has risen up to 95 cases, but is widely believed to be significantly higher by experts.
How severe is the coronavirus outbreak in Iran?
The fatality rate of coronavirus in Iran relative to the number of cases it has officially reported is much higher than other countries like Japan and South Korea.
Based on the numbers released by the Iranian government, 16 individuals have died from coronavirus out of 95 that have been affected excluding the incident in Qom, placing the fatality rate at 16.8 percent.
A study on coronavirus patients in Wuhan and the greater Hubei area reveals that the fatality rate of coronavirus stands at around 2.3 percent.
Due to the large discrepancy in the number of coronavirus-related deaths in Iran, virologists predict that the actual number of cases in the country are likely to be higher.
Can it be contained?
As seen with Wuhan, the threat of coronavirus is an epidemic setting is that it infects so many people that it places hospitals and medical centers in overdrive.
More than 27,000 people have recovered from coronavirus to date, and with the right care, the likelihood of recovery increases.
The main problem of the virus outbreak is that it affects a large number of individuals within a short time frame, which makes it difficult to treat every person that is infected with the virus.
In severe cases, coronavirus can trigger an overreaction from the immune system. Because it is the first time the human body meets the newly found virus, the immune system tries to overload the virus, which causes harm to the human body.
In such a case, individuals have to be rushed to the hospital and be treated swiftly. But, when there are a lack of equipment, resources, and medical centers to deal with the outbreak, the fatality rate can increase substantially.
This article was edited by Samburaj Das.
