Iran
An Iranian woman arrives at a hospital in Tehran, Iran, suspected of contracting coronavirus. Photo: Asghar Khamseh / IRNA
SANANDAJ, Iran – Fear of the coronavirus has brought an eerie quiet to the streets of Sanandaj in Iran’s Kurdish region. The usually packed streets, filled with the roar of traffic late into the night, now see just a smattering of vehicles and hurried pedestrians.
On the western side of the city, however, there is a bustle of confusion and activity. Tawhid Hospital has been given the dubious honour of being designated the province’s only facility treating patients with novel coronavirus.
It keeps strict rules for anyone entering the building: 18 patients here are reportedly infected with COVID-19.
Inside the hospital, everyone in sight wears a facemask. Cleaning staff shuffle up and down its halls spraying sanitizer fluid. At the entrance are two young nurses running triage for people frantically babbling about symptoms.
Rozhin Babayi, a 29-year-old nurse who has been working in Tawhid Hospital for five years, told Rudaw she’s afraid to come to work as they still don’t have the necessary medical equipment to properly treat coronavirus patients. She comes in each day regardless to help where she can.
Her weary eyes tell of the long shifts she has been working since the outbreak began. Local taxi drivers refuse to give a ride to nurses wearing scrubs.
“We don’t go anywhere, just home and work,” she told Rudaw English.
Babayi lives alone in an apartment. The only person she has seen outside of work is her mother.
“Even though I’m afraid of my family getting coronavirus because of me, it’s hard to watch your loved ones avoiding you while we are putting our lives on the line to make it through this crisis,” she said.
A passing nurse asks Rozhin: “Our shift group has two facemasks, right?”
“No, we only have one, we’ll have to share,” she sighs in reply.
As the world grapples with one of the most serious viral outbreaks in years, Iran has been hit particularly hard by coronavirus.
Already struggling under sanctions and political pressure, Iranians were vulnerable even before the virus began to spread.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that 97 cases across 11 countries had likely originated in Iran.
Iran’s health ministry on Wednesday reported 15 new deaths from the outbreak of coronavirus, bringing the overall toll to 92 dead and 2,922 infected.
There have been more than 83,000 reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 2,800 deaths since the disease emerged late last year – the vast majority in China.
Dr. Mahdi Amir Hosseini, the 43-year-old head of emergency staff at Tawhid Hospital, says the current crisis as unlike anything he’s ever seen.
“I have been in this department for more than 17 years, and I have never seen such a dangerous crisis until now,” Dr. Hosseini told Rudaw English. “These are the hardest days in our lives, and our work.”
“This week should be the peak of the virus, and I ask everyone to remain healthy and follow the medical instruction until we pass this crisis,” he added.
Tawhid Hospital is packed with the relatives of patients suspected of contracting the virus. Outside the hospital director’s office are three young men asking where they should wait to retrieve a body for burial.
Their 55-year-old father, who suffered with asthma, had just died in the hospital.
“They kept him in ICU for four days and didn’t allow us to see him,” says Karzan, 25. “They told us his tests had not been completed yet. The next thing we heard was they called my brother and said my father had passed away.”
Grieving and confused, Karzan begs: “Don’t they say that it takes the corona test 72 hours to be out? Then how is it possible for the results of my father’s test not to be out in four days?”
Another man milling about and looking for answers tries to console him.
“I brought my father here ten days ago but do not know anything about his whereabouts. They neither allow me to see him, nor tell me whether he is infected with coronavirus or not,” the man says, before wandering off.
A health ministry official in Sanandaj, who spoke to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, said those who test positive will be moved to a 20-bed ward dedicated to coronavirus cases.
“After all the tests are done to all of them, we will let those who test negative to go home,” he added.
In Iran’s western Kurdistan Province, 10 cases have so far been confirmed by authorities, including six in Saqqez, two in Baneh, one in Sanandaj, and one in Kamyaran.
Six cases are reported in Kermanshah province, five in Urmia, and four in Ilam.
Critics believe Iran is grossly underreporting the true scale of the outbreak.
Doctors at Tawhid Hospital have requested the urgent delivery a COVID-19 testing kit, but it is still yet to arrive. As a result, there is a massive backlog of test results, as samples are sent to the capital Tehran seven hours’ drive away.
Britain, France, and Germany have offered Iran 5 million euros in aid to help combat the outbreak, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Monday.
Iraq’s Kurdistan Region has closed its border with Iran, cutting off a key trade lifeline to the country. Several countries have canceled flights and stepped up checks on travelers who have recently been to Iran.
Friday prayers in Tehran and 22 other cities were cancelled last week and schools and universities closed.
With translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali, editing by Shawn Carrié
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