The post Photo: Corona Vaccination center in Tehran appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>IRAN to administer 50 mn Corona vaccines by end of summer
Iran’s new Health Minister Bahram Einollah has said that the country will break Germany’s record of weekly administering of 5 million doses of vaccines.
Speaking to reporters after attending a meeting with the Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday, Bahram Einollah, the new Iranian health minister said that the general vaccination of the Iranian people is gaining momentum, adding that the country will administer 50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of summer.
He said while at the end of the previous administration in the middle of summer only 5 million doses of vaccines had been administered in the country, while after the new administration took office, the campaign accelerated and now the vaccination rate has exceeded more than 38 million of doses.
The new health minister added that the vaccination of 18-year-old people will begin very soon.
According to him, efforts are underway to vaccinate students and young people quickly.
He also said that soon all those who want to leave the country should have received two doses of vaccine, and upon their return to the country, they must have a negative PCR test in order to avert a new wave of the coronavirus in the country.
Einollah also noted that the new government in Iran under President Ebrahim Raeisi has authorized the domestic production of five Covid-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for Iran’s National Task Force for Fighting Covid-19 Alireza Raeisi who said that the country has not got through the deadly fifth wave of the Covid-19.
Raeisi predicted that the daily death toll from the pandemic in Iran will decline from the current 500 to below 50 people in the middle of fall, when a large portion of the Iranian population has received both doses of the vaccines.
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]]>The post Exclusive video| Homeless but not hopeless: No to outbreak at homeless shelters in Tehran appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>We are on in a shelter for homeless women in a western neighborhood of Tehran. Tehran municipality built and equipped this place with the help of donors.
One of the early challenges facing almost all cities all around the world was the shortage of face masks. And this was no exception for the shelters. In fact, given that most of the homeless suffer from long term conditions, becoming infected with the virus could have severe consequences for them. So, the shelters started to produce their own masks; thousands of them every day.
Roqiyeh Beigzadeh, Social worker: Chitgar homeless shelter for women has a bed capacity of 450. Currently around 150 people – mainly addicts and those rejected by their families- between the ages of 18 to 60 reside here. The center is open 24/7, and aside from providing three hot meals, it also offers medical and psychiatric services and consultations to individuals, and works to reunite them with their families.
Beigzadeh said: Coronavirus made our work much harder since we had to check the residents’ symptoms and disinfect the facility on a daily basis, as well as providing prevention training for them.
She added: A face mask production workshop was assembled with the help of the residents to produce, disinfect and package between 500 to 1000 masks daily.
Aida, 37 years old: The safe space this center creates, as well as the possibility of staying around the clock and, of course, the excellent rapport with social workers are some of the more important reasons convincing me to stay here for a long time. Here we have everything a woman needs. We were quarantined after the emergence of the outbreak. Our symptoms like fever were checked, and thank God I had no problem here. I go out with my friends here from time to time to take care of my personal and sometimes administrative work. There is a theater, a library and sports equipment, and I use these facilities.
Tanaz Amini, Emergency medical technician & paramedic: During this time we only had one suspicious case who was then sent to the hospital and later diagnosed with an overdose. Aside from that, we have had no other suspicious cases in the three months since the start of the outbreak. In the early days, the homeless would not accept the new health protocols and resisted them. But with the passage of time and some training, they would come to us to have their symptoms checked and make sure they did not have the disease.
This is Khavaran Shelter in southeast of Tehran with a 600 bed capacity. Until before coronavirus, its sleeping capacity was never even nearly full in spring and summer. But now, the capacity has been increased to 1000.
Abbas Nejad, Technical assistant, Khavaran shelter: The shelter has a capacity of 450 people, and it admits people from 18 to 80 years old. With the spread of coronavirus and the closure of other addiction treatment centers, there’s been an increase in the number of referrals. Following the announcement of health protocols, our job became harder. Accordingly, we disinfect the complex several times a day. Before admission, we disinfect the individuals. They have seperate beds.
Pirouz Hanachi, Tehran mayor : The 21 shelters of Tehran host about 66,000 people every month. The individuals receive three meals a day as well as medical care. Despite the fact the shelters are often crowded, we have not recorded any covid-19 since the start of the outbreak.
Tehran mayor said: We achieved this feat with help from the individuals themselves – after receiving proper training and equipment like face masks- and following the implementation of strict health protocols like constant disinfection of the facilities.
Tehran was one the first and worst-hit cities in the world. The early days of the pandemic were chaotic with people panic buying sanitary products and staple food items. But even back then, the municipality never seized its services to the most vulnerable and the needy. And that’s why no one -not a single soul- in the homeless population has contracted the disease so far; a truly remarkable feat.
We are a strong nation. We have experienced all sorts of ups and downs in recent history only to come on top successfully every single time. So, I’m sure we will put this crisis behind us with flying colors. But this doesn’t mean we should relax precautions.
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]]>The post Exclusive| Online concerts bring musical joy to Iranian families in coronavirus lockdown appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>Nowrouz under coronavirus lockdown meant no family reunions, no gifts and no dinners, but also meant no parks, no cinemas and no concerts. So Tehran’s municipality came up with a brilliant idea to bring some musical joy to Iranian families in quarantine during these hard times; to livestream one concert every single night of the 15-day holiday.
So on Friday April 3, the NowrouzKhaneh campaign was launched. The concerts were live-streamed on 46 different websites and platforms (ipTVs, VODs – Video-on-Demand). They were also streamed live on Instagram.
Before the pandemic closed down businesses and sent everyone home self-quarantining, Milad Tower was one of the main cultural hubs of Tehran, hosting major festivals and holding various other cultural events. So, the venue was rightfully picked to host the online concerts during coronavirus lockdown.
The Milad Tower standing at 435 meters, the world’s sixth-tallest tower dominates the capital’s skyline.
The online concerts in Coronavirus days on Nowrouz 2020 performed by:
Omid Hajili
Mehdi Jahani
Rouzbeh Bemani
Azeri group of Master Vahid Asadollahi
Reza Yazdani
Rahim Shahriari
Hamid Asgari
Gil and Amard Group, Nasser Vahdati
Mehdi Yaghmaei
Kurdish group Zhavana, Sadollah Nasiri
Hamid Hami
Sina Sarlak
Rastak group
Ali Zandvakili
Lian Bushehr Group
Mohamad Reza Javadi Yeganeh, Deputy of cultural & social affairs of Tehran municipality said: “Since people could not leave their homes during the New Year holidays, we sat together and came up with the idea of online concerts or concerts in empty halls. The idea was to bring the concerts to people’s homes. We also had the concept of fair distribution in mind. Many people in Iran had never been to a concert both due to cultural and economic reasons. Tehran Municipality joined forces with the culture ministry, and Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) [to make this happen] via ipTVs and VODs.”
“Bands selected from pop, traditional, folklore genres to appeal to all”
We selected pop, classical and folklore music bands to appeal to all different tastes in Tehran. Given the unknown risks involved, many of the bands were unwilling to participate. The idea of ‘a concert without a crowd’ was far-fetched to some, director of cultural affairs department in Tehran municipality said.
Majid Sahaf, channel director of Tiva IPTV about broadcasting the concerts said: “Tiva readily picked up the offer by Tehran Municipality, given its technical capacity and experience in the field. We were required to transmit the signal [of the concerts] to all various platforms and streaming services all around the country. And we made this operational. From the first night on, over 40 different platforms used our services. And this went on for 15 consecutive nights. Most of the people used the easiest mode of access which was through web streaming. Their next choice was applications, android and iOS respectively, and finally smart TVs. Many were doubtful about the internet infrastructure in the country. But we faced no issues in receiving and transmitting the signal. People also had no issues streaming at home. No complaints were recorded in these 15 nights.”
Tehran mayor:
Online concerts well received by people
Pirouz Hanachi, Tehran Mayor said: “It’s definitely been a positive experience because the world is also following suit. Many famous musicians are performing online these days. I think we set a record [of viewers]. We exceeded the five-million mark in mid-holidays. People well received the concerts.”
Gholamhossein Mohammadi an advisor to Tehran’s mayor wrote on twitter that:
“A brilliant idea enabled five million people who’d joined the StayHome campaign to fight the spread of coronavirus to watch live the first-ever online concert broadcast from Milad Tower. Tehran’s municipality feels compelled to protect the health and wellbeing of citizens.”
Javadi Yeganeh mentions that: “Level of participation was beyond our expectations. Part of this came from Tehran and the rest from outside Tehran and even overseas. The President Rouhani expressed his gratitude.”
“Over 30 million unique IPs streamed online concerts”
Director of cultural affairs department in Tehran municipality informed: “According to the numbers we received daily from the association of IPTVs, over 30 million unique IPs watched the concerts in these 15 nights. The biggest achievement of the online concerts was making culture and music accessible to all walks of life in the country during the difficult quarantine days”.
But did the concerts truly attract people’s attention or was this remark an empty official rhetoric?
“The first time I watched an online concert was about 30 something days into my home quarantine. Although I had kept myself busy with different activities, I was feeling depressed and in low spirits. It was quite a surprising scene; the concert was being held in an empty hall but apart from that it was like a normal concert with the stage and props and things like that. After performing each song, the singer would call up and introduce one of the band members who then would bow to the camera. In normal circumstances, the crowd would applaud him but since the hall was empty, there was no applause, and the artists would only bow to a quiet hall. It was a strange and surreal experience. Nonetheless, the experience felt very real to me. Although I was at home in my PJs and drawing while watching the concert, every time I enjoyed a performance I would clap to it as if I’d actually been there in the concert hall. So it was a really interesting experience.”
Fatemeh Tehrani, Tourism Activist
“In these monotonous and boring quarantine days, watching live an hour-long concert by Reza Yazdani was a big surprise for my wife and I. I’m sure its memory will stay with us for years to come.”
Mohsen Saemi, Construction Project Manager
“I always thought going to concerts was an expensive activity, and given the inadequate infrastructure, only a few people could experience it, maybe not more than 2% of the population. But when I was watching these online concerts with my family at home, I felt that now with these concerts, many people can experience -at least to some extent- how live concerts really feel.”
Seyed Milad Nazemi, Journalist
“In these times while some still haven’t grasped the gravity of the situation and think all these safety measures and home-quarantining are nothing but an unnecessary obsession, with others panicking and getting depressed from staying home for long periods, the municipality’s introduction of the initiative only shows the gravity of the situation and the halt in normal day activities. On the other hand, it shows it cares about people and has plans for their lockdown days to make them more tolerable.”
Mahsa Mousavi, Neurologist
The musicians also welcomed the municipality’s initiative:
Farzad Moradi, Singer, Rastak Music Band Emphasized: “I think Iranians are culture and art-loving people who enjoy going to concerts; something that has been missing from their lives [as a consequence of the coronavirus lockdown]. We are glad to see the Municipality organize the events despite all limitations. It was an innovative idea. I hope artists can use this platform for as long as the disease is among us. Our performance is audience-oriented. To be honest, we have never had any such experience before, and It was really difficult. During our concerts, given our considerable experience, our main concern is not music but the emotional give and take between us, the musicians, and the audience.”
First time experiencing concert in empty hall
Also Sina Sarlak, Singer said: “This is the first time in my whole musical career that I am performing in an empty concert hall.”
It could be really disappointing to see the concert that you have been counting days for postponed or cancelled altogether.
Both for fans and the artists themselves. That’s why musicians of all stripes and sizes from all around the world are taking to social and streaming platforms these days to play live for their fans from their homes or empty venues.
This might be an intuition, or a false hope. But I strongly believe we will ultimately win the fight against COVID-19. The virus, however, is likely to stay among us for quite some time. So for the time being we have to learn to adjust to this new reality of life. This might come with some complications but also with some fortunate by-products like the virtual concerts. In the meantime, keep your safe distance with others and follow health guidelines.
Tehran Review
Episode 1, Online concert during coronavirus
Editor in Chief and Producer: Sadeq Hosseini
Reporter: Farbod Khalili
Cameraman: Saeed Naeeni
Edit: Amirhassan Saadati
Production: Iran This Way
In Cooperate: Shahr news agency and Commutation center of Tehran Municipality
www.shahr.ir
www.tehran.ir
Iranthisway.com
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]]>The post 70,933 recovered in Iran from Coronavirus Covid-19 appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>Noting that after 36 days, the number of people getting infected daily now stands at less than 1,000.
He added that in the past 24 hours, 991 new cases of coronavirus were reported, increasing the total number of infections in Iran to 91,472.
Some 96 coronavirus patients lost their lives in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 5,806, he added.
There were 3,011 people in intensive care, Jahanpour said, adding, of those infected, 70,933 have recovered.
So far, 432,329 tests have been taken across the country to detect infected cases, said the Health Ministry spokesman.
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]]>The post Photo/ Social Distancing in Iran appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>Iran‘s Health Ministry says the country is witnessing a “declining trend” in the number of fatalities and cases of new coronavirus infections as a result of bilateral cooperation between the people and the government.
Iraj Harirchi, the deputy minister of health, announced in Tehran Saturday that more than 50 percent of coronavirus cases, and about 70 percent of coronavirus-related deaths have decreased across the country.
“There is a declining trend in corona disease in most provinces and this has been the result of effective actions by the people and the government,” Harirchi said.
“I would like to emphasize that at a time when smart and gradual social distancing takes place, any violation can have serious and irreparable consequences,” he added.
The deputy health minister also predicted that there would be “two to three outbreaks” over a year in most of the world’s countries before the discovery of corona vaccines and drugs, underlining that people should stick to the stay-at-home slogan and avoid unnecessary commuting.
President Rouhani: People should continue to take warnings seriously
In a meeting of senior officials in charge of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus in Tehran on Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani expressed optimism that the chain of transmission would break “to some extent” in the country as long as people continue to follow the guidelines drawn up by the government.
“We are on the path to control the disease but if the level of warnings and awareness of the people decreases, the disease may peak,” Rouhani said. “In this situation, we have to reinstate the restrictions. Of course, we hope that people will continue to take warnings seriously and not leave home except for their livelihood.”
“The path to fighting and controlling this disease definitely cannot be traversed without the support of the people.”
Iran’s Health Ministry announced a day earlier that the country was no longer “in the red” as the daily death toll from the coronavirus had begun to slow.
Kianoush Jahanpour, the health ministry’s spokesman, said on Friday that 93 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll since the pandemic first emerged to 5,574.
More than 66,000 people were reported to have recovered from the infectious disease.
Jahanpour said out of 88,194 confirmed cases, 66,596 patients had been released from hospital and recovered from the illness.
“None of our provinces are in the red, but warnings remain, and the situation will not be considered normal at all,” the Health Ministry’s spokesman tweeted on Friday.
Jahanpour called on Iranians to continue to respect social distancing measures, avoid large crowds and frequently wash their hands.
Iran has been doing its utmost to contain the respiratory disease caused by COVID-19 despite the hardships caused by US sanctions.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has not only defied international calls on Washington in recent weeks to halt the draconian sanctions, but has even slapped more such restrictive measures on the Islamic Republic.
Washington re-imposed its sanctions on Iran in May 2018 after unilaterally leaving a historic nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic and other countries that has been endorsed by the UN Security Council.
Washington claims that it has exempted foodstuffs and medicine from the bans, something that Tehran entirely disputes.
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]]>The post Tehran is ahead of London in coronavirus battle: Sadiq Khan appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>Khan made the remarks in an online meeting with Tehran mayor Pirouz Hanachi on Friday.
Referring to the conditions imposed on Iran by U.S. sanctions, Khan said: “In meetings with the British government officials, I would tell them about the problems of Tehran in relation to sanctions and I hope that this problem will be solved soon.”
Hanachi for his part noted that Iran is fighting coronavirus and sanctions at the same time, adding “Despite the pandemic, start-up businesses have been activated in Iran and many services were provided in person before the outbreak, are now done online and on virtual networks.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Hanachi said that in the global crisis, countries usually put aside their differences and problems and try to help each other so that the situation does not get worse.
To many of us urban administrators in Iran, the onslaught of coronavirus has underscored an important fact of life: no town, city or nation can be indifferent to global crises, even in far-flung corners of our world, Hanachi told The Guardian on April 4.
Indeed, while the mantra of good governance over the past century has been to “think global, act local”, we must today think and act both locally and globally.
“I would tell British government officials about the problems of Tehran in relation to sanctions and I hope that this problem will be solved soon.”/Mayor of London
Doubtless, there are things that we could do differently, like every country in the world. But we are operating against the backdrop of the most extreme sanctions regime in history.
The US embargo not only prohibits American companies and individuals from conducting lawful trade with Iranian counterparts, but given that the sanctions are extra-territorial, all other countries and companies are also bullied into refraining from doing legitimate business with Iranians, even the selling of medicines.
This unjust treatment of Iran has come about via the policies of one country – the United States – whose ruling administration does not seem to prioritize even its own national interests, but instead the narrow interests of a governing party. The outcome of such irresponsible policies and behavior is not limited to Iran; they have also inflicted harm on the American public.
In order to better confront these new global crises, there is a need for politicians to realize that the path to pursuing national interests is not separate or contrary to that of global interests and international accountability.
The world cannot go on like this. If global leaders fail to seize the opportunity to embrace change, we will all continue to remain highly vulnerable to communicable diseases, environmental catastrophes, global warming, terrorism, violent extremism and other shared threats.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki has said that the daily death toll and positive cases of coronavirus in Iran have dropped respectively to one third over the course of three weeks, which is a source of honor for the country amid the tough sanctions.
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]]>The post Tehran mayor discusses coronavirus with Muscat, Istanbul counterparts appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>“No vaccine has indeed been developed for #Corona yet, but l’m sure that there’s only one way to deal with global crises: international interaction,” Hanachi wrote on his Twitter account.
“I talked to Hamdoon Al Harthi and @imamoglu_int today, distinguished mayors of Muscat and Istanbul. We’ll be always together,” he added.
The head of Iran’s Health Ministry’s Public Relations Office said earlier on Tuesday that a total of 84,802 have been infected with COVID-19 in Iran, from whom 5,297 have lost their lives to the virus.
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]]>The post Photo/ Health Week in Iran appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>This photo report has been taken from doctors, nurses, midwives, nurses and a number of medical staff at Kosar Hospital in Semnan as a front line in the fight against corona in recent days.
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]]>The post Iranian firms to start production of Favipiravir to treat Coronavirus appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>He said that production of Favipiravir in Iran is in the phase of clinical trials and as planned the primary substance of its will be domestically produced in the near future.
Shanehsaz added that in case of any deficiency, Iran has imports of anti-coronavirus medicine on agenda, as well.
On April 8, the Iranian version of antiviral drug Favipiravir, which is said to be effective in treating the coronavirus, begun clinical trials through efforts of researchers at Shahid Beheshti Medical University.
Researchers at Shahid Beheshti Medical University launched small trials of the antiviral drug Favipiravir at Masih Daneshvari Hospital, which is one of the leading medical centers treating patients with the new coronavirus infection in the Iranian capital.
On April 5, the head of Iran’s Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Ali Akbar Velayati, said Iran has produced Favipiravir for the first time.
“Fortunately, Favipiravir was produced for the first time at Shahid Beheshti Medical University’s School of Pharmacy and has been made available to Masih Daneshvari Hospital to be used for the treatment of coronavirus patients,” Velayati said.
The new development came as US sanctions hinder the country’s access to drugs and medical equipment.
The flu drug was hailed by Chinese health officials as “clearly effective” when used on 340 patients in trials there that showed reduced recovery time and improved lung function.
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]]>The post Iran manufactures ozone generator to fight coronavirus appeared first on IRAN This Way.
]]>The ozone generator device could be used to disinfect house, office, hospital, rooms, car, and the bed of a coronavirus patient as well as fruits and vegetables. Ozone gas has also been used to fight fungi, bacteria, germs as well as SARS and influenza viruses.
East Asian countries have also used this method to fight the coronavirus.
This Iranian knowledge-based company was able to indigenize the ozone generator device with a third of the price of its similar foreign product.
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