TEHRAN – A number of freed prisoners of war (POWs) went to the Khatam al-Anbia specialized hospital in Tehran on Saturday, appreciating medical staff for their efforts in the fight against the coronavirus.

The move was concurrent with the anniversary of the proud return of the freed POWs to their homeland after the end of the 8-year war (known as the Sacred Defense) with the Ba'athist regime in Iraq.

On August 20, 1988, the war came to an end with the UN ceasefire. By mid-1988, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had registered 50,182 Iraqi prisoners-of-war (POWs) held in Iran and 19,284 Iranian POWs held in Iraq.

On August 17, 1990, the Iranian nation witnessed the beginning of the glorious freedmen return to their homeland after years of imprisonment of the Ba'athist regime in Iraq.

COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of 138 healthcare workers so far in Iran, Hossein Kermanpour, the director of public relations of Medical Council, has announced in late July.

The healthcare workers who lost their lives in the fight against coronavirus are called martyrs of health in Iran.

Most martyrs were among the physicians amounting to 60 percent, and 20 percent of whom were nurses and the rest were other hospital staff.

Maryam Hazrati, deputy health minister for nursing said in May that some 65 percent of 200,000 nurses in the country was at the forefront of coronavirus fight.

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran reached 343,203 on Sunday, of whom 19,639 have died and 297,486 recovered so far. Over the past 24 hours, 2,133 new cases of people having the virus have been identified, and 147 died, Sima Sadat Lari ministry of health’s spokesman said.

Currently, 3,881 patients with coronavirus are in critical condition, she added.

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