Iranian Regime Continues to Cover up Coronavirus Crisis by Silencing Nurses

Nurses in Iran have been instructed by the regime to remain silent about the Coronavirus outbreak and they have been ordered to attribute COVID-19 deaths to “acute respiratory distress syndrome”.  

The Coronavirus outbreak has hit the city of Tehran hard with there being more than 6,000 deaths in the capital alone. Eyewitnesses at a hospital in Tehran have said that there appears to be an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, but that the regime’s officials have forbidden the hospital from mentioning Coronavirus. Two nurses from this hospital – Milad Hospital – were fired after they informed several patients and their families that they had contracted the virus.  

It has also been reported that the protective equipment and supplies, including hazmat suits, that had been available to medical workers in this hospital have been taken away. This is to keep up the pretence that there are no cases of Coronavirus in the hospital. This is shocking because medical workers are being made even more vulnerable to contracting the virus. Thirty-five nurses have already contracted COVID-19 at the hospital.  

It is believed that the vast majority of patients in this hospital are there because they have Coronavirus. The numbers increase every day, yet there are plans to dismiss 80 nurses with the regime saying that this is due to downsizing.  

The working conditions for medical workers in Iran have been less than satisfactory for years but this Coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated all existing problems. The medical workers across Iran, especially those in emergency departments, are putting their own lives at risk, and that of their families, to treat the many Coronavirus patients that they receive every day. 

Another problem is that the demands of the job have left many health workers across the country with psychological problems. They are dealing with many patients on a daily basis, sometimes up to a hundred per day, and each shift is gruelling – both physically and mentally.  

The latest death toll, as reported by the People’s Mojahedin organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK), indicates that more than 36,200 people have died in Iran because of the Coronavirus outbreak.  

The regime’s negligence is criminal and international intervention is urgently required. The people of Iran are angry at the regime for failing to protect them.  

The situation in prisons is also critical, with inmates being left highly vulnerable. Riots have broken out in prisons because the inmates have had their concerns and worries ignored or dismissed by authorities. Hygiene conditions in prisons in Iran are well below international standards and this makes for a very dangerous situation amid the current health crisis. Furthermore, prisoners that have contracted COVID-19 have not been separated from the rest of the prison population.  

International human rights organizations have called for immediate action to be taken to protect the prisoners in Iran.  It is a worrying situation for every Iranian at the minute.