Islamic Republic of Iran: Flash Update - As of 8 April 2020

Highlights

• Funding gap of US$29 million for the COVID-19 Country Preparedness and Response Plan.

• More than 62,500 cases of COVID-19 have been detected; 3,872 people have died.

• Spring floods damage 9,934 kilometres of roads and 886 bridges.

• Locusts affect at least, 54,600 hectares of land in six provinces.

Coronavirus COVID-19

Situation overview:
Between 31 March and 7 April, 21,094 new COVID-19 cases including 1,115 deaths were confirmed in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This brings the cumulative to 62,589 cases detected with 3,872 deaths. In all, 27,039 patients have recovered. The officially confirmed cases and deaths have slightly decreased in the past week. However, the situation in at least 16 of 31 provinces are reportedly still considered critical with the highest cases detected in Alborz, East Azarbaijan, and Qazvin provinces.

On 5 April, the National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus of Iran announced a ‘Smart Distancing Plan’. The plan is to boost the domestic economic activities while combatting with the coronavirus outbreak. Under the plan, according to its risk criteria, some businesses will resume their activities from 11 April in all provinces except Tehran. Business in Tehran will resume from 18 April. Other businesses will remain closed until 19 April. The Government offices will resume work from 11 April with the two-thirds of staff at offices and for limited working hours.

Humanitarian impact/needs:
By 3 April, some 67 million people, more than 80 per cent of the population, had been screened for the COVID-19 in the national mobilization campaign against coronavirus. During the Persian new year’s holidays from 20 March to 3 April, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) screened 20 million travellers at the entry and exit points of cities.
Humanitarian partners in Iran have prepared a COVID-19 Country Preparedness and Response Plan in support of national efforts to fight against the coronavirus. The plan requires $37 million of which $29 million remains an urgent gap.

Iran is experiencing severe shortage of essential medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE). While efforts to expand its domestic production capacities have been made since the onset of the outbreak, continuous international supports are needed to meet the increasing demands.

Humanitarian response and coordination:
A number of countries have supported Iran in cooperation with UN agencies and NGOs. During the past week, 10 tons of relief packages, consisting personal protective equipment, medicines, and medical thermometers, were donated by the Republic of Turkey. The country also received over 350 tons of medical items from China. Under financial support of the Government of Japan, UNICEF brought in the fourth shipment of COVID-19 supplies that contain 18.5 metric tons of PPE. Most recently, the OPEC Fund for International Development donated $500,000 to WHO for hospital procurement of equipment.

The IRCS has been sanitizing prisons and is providing livelihood assistance to the 2 million unemployed. Relief International has delivered 40,000 coronavirus test kits, which will be dispatched to hospitals across the country