Iran screens 41 million for coronavirus symptoms

Iran says it has screened more than 41 million people for the new coronavirus symptoms as part of the measures that Tehran is taking to rein in the spread of a new coronavirus across the country.

Hamidreza Jamshidi, secretary of Iran’s National Headquarters to Fight Coronavirus, said those screened account for over 50 percent of the target population set out by the screening plan.

The Iranian official further commented on the dispatch of a team from Doctors Without Borders — also known by the acronym of French name MSF — as well as an inflatable hospital to Iran.

He said there are currently enough hospital beds for patients infected with COVID-19 across the country.

“Any moment that that the need arises, we will make use of the capabilities of international humanitarian organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which intend to assist the country ... and we welcome that”.

“For now, we do not need to add makeshift hospitals. We may need it in three or 10 days but we have enough beds now,” he added.

On Sunday, the MSF sent a 50-bed inflatable hospital and an emergency team to Iran’s central city of Isfahan to help treat the patients critically ill with the coronavirus disease.

The inflatable hospital has been shipped by air from the MSF’s logistics hub in Bordeaux, France, and was to be set up in the compound of Amin hospital in Isfahan.

An MSF team comprised of nine emergency and intensive care unit (ICU) doctors and logisticians were to run the unit.

The team would work with local medical staff in close coordination with the Iranian health authorities.

“Iran is by far the hardest hit country in the region, and Isfahan the second worst-affected province in Iran,” says Julie Reverse, the MSF’s representative in Iran.“We hope our assistance will relieve at least some of the pressure on the local health system,” Reverse said.

Death toll rises in Iran

Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Tuesday that the number of coronavirus deaths had increased to 1,934 and the total infections to 24,811 during the past 24 hours.

“There have been 122 new deaths and 1,762 new infections since Sunday," he said.

Jahanpour further put the number of patients who have recovered from the viral disease at 8,913.

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