24
MPsreceivingtreatmentforcoronavirusina hos-
pital.HehascloselinkstoSalami’sIRGC.“Manyof
theofficialstraveltoQom,andtheygotherefre-
quently,”saysa personclosetothegovernment
whoaskednottobeidentified.
Seniorconservativeclericsaremakingunusual
on-camerastatements,urgingthefaithfulnotto
kissorlickreligiousshrines.Butnoteveryonelis -
tens.InoneclippostedonTwitterinlateFebruary,
a youngmanwarnedagainstfrighteningthepub-
licwithscarestories,thenmadea showofkissing
Shiism’ssecondholiestshrine,inQom.
ManyhospitalsinIranhavebeendesignated
entirelytotreatingcoronaviruspatients.Sixof 14
TehranhospitalscontactedbyBloombergNews
onMarch6 saidthattheywerefullandthatnew
patientseitherwouldhavetowait,orthatthey
wouldn’tbeadmittedatall.“Wehave 14 patients
intheemergencywardwhohavebeenwaitingfor
anemptybedfortwodaysnow,”saidanadmin-
istratoratTorfehHospitalindowntownTehran.
A doctorinGilanprovincesayspatientswith
coronavirus-typesymptomswerecomingtolocal
hospitalstwoweeksbeforethegovernmentpub-
licizedthefirstIraniancase,inQom,onFeb.19.
Chestscansshowedsignsofanunusuallyvir-
ulentpneumonia,“butnobodywas takingit
seriously,”saysthedoctor,whoaskednottobe
named.It tookuntilMarchfortheprovincetoget
itsowntestingfacilities,thedoctorsays.Before
that,testshadtobesenttoTehran,causingdelays
anderrors.
Withsomedoctorsandnursesinfected,med-
icalpersonnelareinshortsupply,asareprotec-
tiveequipmentanddisinfectants,accordingto
thedoctor.Medicineis scarce,too,atleastinpart
becauseofsanctionsthattheU.S.reimposedafter
PresidentTrumpwithdrewfromamultilateral
2015 deal that limited Iran’s nuclear fuel pro-
gram. “Divvying up a small amount of medicineamong a large number of patients is a daily head-
ache,” says the doctor, who estimates that 10 to 12
Covid-19 patients a day on average die at the hos-
pital. “We had 18 to 20 deaths in one day alone,
and some of the deceased are tested only after
they die, to determine burial procedures.” A hos-
pital official said it could not confirm the number
of deaths from coronavirus.
Many in Tehran are staying home, venturing out
only to buy essentials. In the runup to the Iranian
New Year on March 20, stores in Tehran would nor-
mally be jammed, but many—especially those offer-
ing luxury goods—are empty. “We’ve been caught in
the crossfire,” says Majid, a 42-year-old driver for the
Iranian ride-hailing service Snapp, who would only
give his first name. “On the one side, our incompe-
tent officials have failed to contain the virus. They
opened the gates to flights from China as if corona
was a joke. On the other side, they have raised the
price of gasoline and advised people to stay inside.”● Can Iranians trust their
government again?The government’s response has been inconsis-
tent. It blocked roads to provinces with high infec-
tion rates, such as Gilan and Mazandaran on the
Caspian Sea north of Tehran, and schools have
been closed. But no cities are locked down, and
employees in government offices and state organi-
zations were working on a normal schedule as of
March 7. At the same time, a deputy health minister
made a televised plea for people to stay at home:
“We have 140,000 beds across all hospitals in the
country, but we may have to add new beds by 10
times that number if people don’t observe health
measures,” he said on March 6.
With Iranians sequestering themselves at home,
state TV channels are airing dubbed foreign films,
including the Lord of the Rings and Toy Story series,▲ Masks dominate at a
mosque