Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds have reached full capacity in the province of Tehran, according to the Deputy of Tehran's Coronavirus Combat Task Force, Nader Tavakoli.
Tavakoli referred to the surge of COVID-19 outpatients in an interview on Monday, and added, "ICUs will naturally be full in these circumstances."
"Unfortunately, Tehran had not yet adopted the makeup of a red zone city," Tavakoli said, adding that the COVID-19 strain spreading in Tehran was chiefly the Indian Delta variant.
There were around 8,600 coronavirus outpatient and 1,300 new inpatient cases recorded in Tehran on Sunday, based on the latest official data, and currently 6,700 patients are hospitalized for COVID-19 in the province of Tehran.
Mohsen Hashemi, chairman of the City Council of Tehran, on Sunday criticized the Ministry of Health's failure to fulfil its promises and the delays in providing the coronavirus vaccine, and said, "Unfortunately we have reached the fifth peak of COVID-19, and the disease is on the rise in Tehran, with the number of fatalities approaching 100 cases per day."
Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East. While official data shows 85,000 deaths, unofficial figures show more than 300,000 deaths so far.
Iranian government is highly criticized for its incompetence in managing the coronavirus outbreak.
