The 7th wave of COVID-19 is here

As many media have reported, Iran’s Health Minister Dr. Bahram Einollahi said that given the data, the country has entered the 7th wave of the coronavirus pandemic. He called on people to get a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly those who are over 65 years old. He also stressed that everybody should be more attentive to health protocols, including wearing masks and social distancing measures.

“According to official figures from July 19, 141,532 people in the Islamic Republic of Iran have lost their lives due to COVID-19 since the pandemic started over two years ago”, says Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain, Representative of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in Iran.

WHO says that it is the Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5 that are now infecting people across the country. These subvariants are known to be highly transmissible and evade immunity. 

The Secretary of Iran’s Scientific Committee of COVID-19, Hamidreza Jama’ati said: “Over 80 per cent of COVID-19 infections are linked to the BA.5 subvariant and each person infected can affect 18 other people.” He also expects an increase in hospitalizations over the next two weeks.

In a COVID-19 update from 16 July, only eight out of 31 provinces did not report significant increases, whereas in 23 provinces numbers are going up. In Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Isfahan, Markazi, and Kerman provinces, the rise in confirmed cases is abrupt.

WHO recommendations on how to protect yourself and those around you:

• Get vaccinated as soon as it’s your turn and follow local guidance on vaccination.
• Keep a physical distance of at least 1 metre from others, even if they don’t appear to be sick. Avoid crowds and close contact.
• Wear a properly fitted mask when physical distancing is not possible and in poorly ventilated settings.
• Clean your hands frequently with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Dispose of used tissues immediately and clean hands regularly. 
• If you develop symptoms or test positive for COVID-19, self-isolate until you recover.

“Let us all show solidarity and reintroduce all the protection measure that we know will work. Only together we can prevent the number of deaths going up,” said WHO’s Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain. 

Read more from sources at WHO and UNICEF.