TEHRAN – Due to the rising number of coronavirus patients, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has doubled the number of beds in its affiliated hospitals allocated to the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The IRGC-affiliated health and medical centers are fully prepared to provide the necessary assistance in the treatment of COVID-19 patients whenever the Ministry of Health announces, IRGC’s health department head Brigadier General Ahmad Abdollahi said, IRIB reported on Saturday.

The number of coronavirus cases has been rising in Iran after the two-week Noruz holidays, which officially began on March 20.

The country has hit a new coronavirus infection record, reporting over 22,000 daily new cases.

The National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control has announced a new lockdown for ten days from tomorrow as the country continues to battle a fourth wave of the coronavirus.

Under the restrictions, shopping malls, gyms, mosques, salons, universities, schools, libraries, kindergartens, cinemas, museums, cafes, zoos, and amusement parks will be closed in cities at high risk of infection.

When the third wave of the -19 pandemic was ravaging the whole country, fifty-six hospitals belonging to the armed forces have been equipped to exclusively admit patients infected with the coronavirus in October 2020.

Hassan Araqizadeh, the head of the healthcare department of the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces, told IRIB that the department is ready to establish field hospitals at every place, even at border points.

New cases and mortalities

In a press briefing on Saturday, Health Ministry’s spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 19,666 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 2,049,087. She added that 1,702,062 patients have so far recovered, but 4,329 remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, 193 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 64,232, she added.

So far, 13,577,057 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country.

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