Coronavirus Situation Report
Situation Report 3
22 March 2020
Context
The Iranian Ministry of Health reported the first confirmed cases of the Coronavirus infections on 19 February 2020 in Qom. According to updates from the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, a number of 1,685 deaths in Iran with a total of 21,638 infections are reported, out of said figure 7,913 people recovered since the beginning of outbreak of virus in Iran.
The IRCS is making great efforts to assist in government response accordance with the policy obtained by the health authorities.
The IRCS operation
Shortly after the Coronavirus outbreak, the IRCS activated Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) at the IRCS Headquarters and 32 branches throughout the country.
The first step was to establish a Secretariat at IRCS Health, Treatment and Rehabilitation Division to centralize the necessary coordination with the Iranian Ministry of Health and sharing health guidelines as well as prioritizing the measures throughout the IRCS branches based on coordination with the MoH, being a member of the MoH Coronavirus Task Force.
After initial coordination with the Iranian Ministry of Health and considering the importance of public education, the IRCS focused on public awareness campaign for the people from different walks of life. The IRCS started three phases for training. Firstly, it was for public education. The working group was established to study, translate and provide scientific materials regarding preventive measures to be shared with public.
Then the trainees are categorized based on the materials. Different types of trainings such as face to face trainings for health promotion, distribution of pamphlets and brochures are organized in the public and most populated areas by the IRCS CBHFA trained volunteers with accompany of health post officers in the areas. Different virtual networks are used for sharing knowledge and information online courses on the Coronavirus have been prepared for the public, aiming at educating people with the coronavirus and necessary preventions.
This idea has been warmly welcomed by the public. Millions of people have managed to pass the course and receive the certificate. On the other side, necessary information and knowledge has been shared with the public through pamphlets, footage, banners, etc. In addition, some specific courses have been prepared to target some groups who are in close contact with the people in the society such as taxi drivers as exchanging cash are common and first option for people in Iran. Moreover, some educational materials have been prepared in Arabic and Turkish for other nationalities and neighboring countries.
Secondly, the educational materials have been provided for the IRCS’s trainers throughout the country. Regular video conferences and virtual meetings for the IRCS branches have been organized to share guidelines and materials. The IRCS, in coordination with Medical Council provided general and specialized training for Corona online courses for the volunteers and staff. Moreover, the IRCS has called for 2550 physicians, nurses and paramedics to be prepared to response to the people through helpline No. 4030 and also to help MoH medical staff.
Flowing Infographic templates for hygiene promotions, ways on how to use masks, how to face with suspected cases, how to manage stress of people, how to get news from authentic sources and ways of self-immunity and increasing immunity have been prepared and distributed.
• Brochures, posters, info graphic (116 pages in Persian and other languages)
• Movie, clip, and motion graphic (46 programs have been produced particularly for different walks of life and deaf people y) Also, 6 educational documentation videos have been produced.
• Information sharing and publication of training contexts include:
Visiting social webs: 40,960,000 people
Visiting training site as www.coronavirus.ir: 18,010,000 people
Attending Corona test “test. Corona.ir”: 8,140,000
Sending SMS: 25,000,000
In addition, 420,252 people, 8,926 volunteers, and 2,821 staff 1,319 trainers have passed online course of coronavirus.
In order to control the possible spread of the virus, it is decided that all IRCS staff, volunteers and the clients should be screened at the entrance doors of the IRCS buildings. The people with high fever are restricted and referred to hospitals for medical check-up.
As the number of infected cases is increasing all over the country, the IRCS took the next step to screen all the passengers at the entrance of the cities using thermal imager and gown thermometers, in close coordination with the Iranian Ministry of Health and the National Disaster Management Organization. The trained relief and health workers are located at the entrance of 32 provinces with numbers of suspected cases for initial screening with temperature measurements and second screening with interview of passengers. The suspected cases are identified and referred to the hospital for medical check-up by the ambulances of Medical Emergency.
By March 22nd, 2020, around 8,678,808 people and passengers of 2,888,392 cars have been screened out of whom 6,464 were referred to clinical centers for further examinations.
It should be mentioned that 6,283 personnel and 24,953 volunteers of the Iranian Red Crescent are actively taking part in a big attempt for the aforesaid operation. On the other side, logistically 732 ambulances with 804 pick up along with 514 light vehicles were used in said operation.
The IRCS’s Noor Afshar hospital with 200 beds has been allocated to Corona cases in which 45 cases are bedridden.
With mounting the number of suspected cases, the IRCS took responsibility of medical shelter with 2600 beds in seven provinces which have high numbers of cases for isolating people.
Following is brief explanation about the medical shelters:
- Isfahan province with 1 medical shelter and capacity of 500 beds in which 2 cases have been hospitalized.
- Qom province with 1 medical shelter and capacity of 600 beds in which 104 cases have been hospitalized, 9 patients referred to hospitals and 48 are discharged.
- Golestan province with 1 medical shelter and capacity of 200 beds in which 51 cases have been hospitalized, 5 patients referred to hospitals and 22 are discharged.
- Qazvin province with 1 medical shelter in which 6 cases have been hospitalized and 5 are discharged.
- Tehran, Gilan and Mazandaran provinces are planning to establish medical shelter.
The IRCS Volunteer Organization organized NGOs to coordinate their activities and support the hospitals and health centers logistically and human resource wise. The IRCS with participation of NGOs and its volunteers selected 460 of the vulnerable and deprived districts in the country and implemented health programs to help people to be prevented from coronavirus. The organization also prepared health text and materials to be used for the deaf and the disabled through national media in coordination with Ministry of Education. Moreover, 50,000 food parcels and 93,827 hygiene kits have been distributed among the most vulnerable and pregnant women.
The IRCS volunteers disinfected 2,750 streets and avenues for about10, 227 km, 982 public transportation, 17 prisons, and 21 night dormitories for homeless, 1,562 mosques and 1,216 other public places across the country.
The IRCS volunteers also distributed 4,000 hygiene kits among chemical affected veteran in West part of the country. 9000 shoes cover have been distributed among the hospitals.
With the increasing outbreak of the Coronavirus, the Health, Treatment and Rehabilitation Division of the IRCS has made the necessary preparation such as providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the possible intervention. Information sharing and coordination meetings for further preparedness are held on a regular basis. The IRCS has distributed personnel protection equipment including different types of 166,770 of 3-layer masks, 28,140 N95 Masks, 107,200 latex gloves, 13,771 bags, 24,505 anti-septic gel, 1,200 hospital gowns and 6,687 relief gowns for volunteers in IRCS‘s road relief bases, IRCS Drugstores and IRCS health and rehabilitation centers thought the 30 provinces of the country for one month consume.
Considering the scale of the crisis, the IRCS Volunteer Organization has called on volunteers with different health specialties such as physicians and nurses all over the country to assist the Iranian Ministry of Health in identified hospitals as well as participation in helpline (4030) program 24/7 to provide paramedic and medical information and keep in touch with people who need advices.
The IRCS Youth Organization has come up with some plans and programs to entertain and render psychological support and services for children who have to stay at home. The programs are accessible through virtual networks and also Dial- A – Story service at no. 021 6427 to cite stories with humanitarian themes for kits and children aged 4- 12. There are also photography completions for children with themes of humanitarian activities during their stay at home to be emailed to the IRCS.
As the fear of the Coronavirus is increasing among the families, the needs for the psychosocial support are felt more than any time.
A number of 10,622 beneficiaries benefitted from the IRCS Youth Organization’s campaigns and programs up to now. About 3,323 IRCS team members have provided psychosocial support services to 400,352 beneficiaries through 661 teams.
The IRCS started to disinfect relief vehicles, ambulances and road relief bases throughout the country. Online self-assessment test has been launched for volunteers and staff of the IRCS in coordination with Medical Council to help them be aware of their healthy and warn them if they are needed to refer to the doctor.
Outstanding needs
Please refer to the needs specified in tables as per attached.
External relations - Government/UN/NGOs/Media
Ministry of Health is responsible for the treatment operation and the IRCS is coordinating its activities based on existing needs and protocols. The IRCS is in close contact with IFRC and ICRC to receive contribution in this regard.
For more information please contact Ms. Mansooreh Bagheri Director General of International Operation of Iranian Red Crescent Society.
E-mail: int_operations@rcs.ir
Mobile: 09121396432
Website: en.rcs.ir
Fax: 0098 21 88201052
Tel: 0098 21 88201082
List of Outstanding Needs.pdf
Coronavirus Situation Report 3.pdf