So are Iranians:
Standing over the still body of an intubated 5-year-old boy wearing nothing but a plastic diaper, an Iranian health care worker in a hazmat suit and mask begged the public for just one thing: Stop drinking industrial alcohol over fears about the new coronavirus.
The boy, now blind after his parents gave him toxic methanol in the mistaken belief it protects against the virus, is just one of hundreds of victims of an epidemic inside the pandemic now gripping Iran.
Iranian media report nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 1,000 sickened so far by ingesting methanol across the Islamic Republic, where drinking alcohol is banned and where those who do rely on bootleggers. An Iranian doctor helping the country’s Health Ministry told The Associated Press on Friday the problem was even greater, giving a death toll of around 480 with 2,850 people sickened. [AP]
The source? Well, at least their leaders don’t appear to be running their mouths irresponsibly:
The poisonings come as fake remedies spread across social media in Iran, where people remain deeply suspicious of the government after it downplayed the crisis for days before it overwhelmed the country.
We are so much more alike than different, but so many of us still bare our teeth at them. And, while I take news from the TehranTimes with a grain of salt, this is worth considering:
[Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria] Zakharova said the “unprecedented political and economic pressure” on Iran allowed the outbreak to take hold in the country.
Iran is unable to buy medicine and medical equipment due to the US economic sanctions which the Trump administration has been continuously tightening as part of “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
The coronavirus outbreak has prompted various international leaders, figures and groups to call for Washington to suspend its sanctions.
Earlier this week, eight countries sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warning about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on the international anti-coronavirus efforts.
The UN chief has said himself the sanctions are heightening the health risks for millions of people and weakening the global efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.
In a tweet on Saturday, Iran’s Ambassador to France Bahram Qassemi said “those who still speak of sanctions and maximum pressure should accept responsibility for the death of thousands of people”.
Despite the international outcry, Washington imposed its latest round of coercive measures against Iran on Thursday.
It’s worth asking if the American sanctions strategy on Iran is responsible for part of the intensification of COVID-19. As of this writing, Iranian deaths due to COVID-19 are 2,517, with more than 35,400+ reported infected, out of a population of roughly 83 million. Of course, these numbers come with the usual data trustability caveats.
