Since the late admission of the Iranian authorities on February 19 on the arrival of the new coronavirus in the country, the newsletter 2 pm has become a macabre meeting for the population. It is at this time that the various channels of Iranian public television interrupt their programs and broadcast live the press point of the spokesman of the ministry of health, Kianoush Jahanpour, for the assessment of the day.
The Gray Goat Man first give the number of new patients in a very neutral tone, before congratulating themselves on the number "Important" of those who have recovered, "Because of the grace of God and your prayers and the efforts of the caregivers". Then he goes on to the number of patients in critical condition. The death toll for the day only comes to an end. The figures announced on March 30 are 2,757 dead and 41,495 patients confirmed since the start of the crisis. Many doctors, consulted by The world in the past few weeks, they have been falsified because they are too low.
"I had a patient who had kidney problems, explains a doctor from a Tehran hospital who wishes to remain anonymous. He was recently hospitalized with symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus. He died. " But the hospital explained to his family that if they wanted to quickly recover the body of the deceased, in order to bury him as quickly as possible, the death certificate had to mention kidney failure due to death. The family would otherwise have had to wait a few weeks for the Covid-19 test result, while the Iranians say the burial should take place within days of the death. "By using these methods, the authorities are trying to reduce the balance sheet", continues the doctor.
Here is the strategy implemented by the authorities in the context of the current epidemic: artificially keep the balance sheet as low as possible, devote minimal media coverage to it and, above all, emphasize the gravity of the crisis in West.
Woes of Europe and the United States
Thus, throughout the day, succeed Shabaké Khabar, the only continuous news channel in Iran, subjects devoted earlier to "The frightening situation in Paris hospitals", at a New York hospital where, "For lack of equipment, doctors and nurses cover themselves in garbage bags to protect themselves" or to Germany, where there would be "Some 5,000 new patients daily". Similarly, the announcement of contamination by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was greeted with a hint of mockery by Iranian television. At the beginning of the official arrival of Covid-19 in Iran, the contamination of many Iranian officials including the Deputy Minister of Health, Iraj Harirchi, had gone around the world.
