No let-up for Tehran hospital staff battling virus

Months into Iran's fight against the coronavirus, doctors and nurses at Tehran's Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital each day still don a mask, a disposable protective suit and a double layer of latex gloves to attempt to contain a pandemic that shows no signs of slowing.

The hiss of high-flow oxygen to wheezing patients, the beeps of equipment monitoring vital signs and the crinkling rustle of passing medics have become a daily symphony here and in other hospitals across the Islamic Republic.

Iran reported its first coronavirus cases and deaths on the same day in February — the Middle East's first and biggest outbreak of the virus — yet it only recently saw its highest single-day spike in reported cases, followed soon after by the highest daily death toll in months.The spikes, which came after a major holiday, have renewed fears about a potential second wave of infections sweeping across Iran.

As businesses open and people begin to move around more after weeks of closures of most stores, offices and public spaces, health experts worry that growing complacency among the country's 80 million people may further allow the virus to spread.Iran saw its highest single-day total of reported new cases — 3,500 — on June 5.

The number dropped in the days afterward but remain in the low 2,000s a day, around twice the lows in the last week of April and first week of May.The daily death toll in Iran also broke 100 for the first time since mid-April on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday this week.Before Iran reported its first cases in February, authorities denied it had reached the country for days.

That allowed the virus time to spread, as the nation marked the 41st anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution with mass demonstrations and then held a parliamentary election in which authorities desperately sought to boost turnout.The country has since reported over 190,000 confirmed cases, with some 152,000 recoveries and more than 9,000 deaths.Even as Iran now acknowledges the crisis, questions remain over its figures from the outbreak.

(Image Credit: AP)