Iran has publicly admitted the failure of its coronavirus containment policy, The Guardian reports, and has decided to make face masks compulsory in public spaces.
Figures published today show that 163 people died in the last 24 hours, the highest recorded figure in Iran to date. 11,571 deaths have been recorded so far, and health ministry data is suggesting a death rate of around 5.4%.
Dr. Masoud Mardani, a member of the Iranian National Task Force, told an Iranian news agency yesterday that, “Based on serological tests done across the country, we estimated about 18 million Iranians have contracted the virus, which is about 20% of total population.” If Mardani's figures are right, then combined with Health Ministry data, a death toll of almost a million people so far can be extrapolated, almost 100 times greater than the official number of deaths.