CORONAVIRUS SITUATION REPORT Situation Report 2 18 March 2020     Context   The Iranian Ministry of Health reported the first confirmed cases of the Coronavirus infections on 19 February 2020 in Qom. Since the beginning of outbreak of virus 1135 deaths in Iran with a total of around 17,361 infections are reported, out of said figure 5,389 people recovered.  According to the Iranian health authorities, the coronavirus has reached out to 32 provinces in Iran so far. The Iranian Ministry of Health as a leading agency is taking necessary measures to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus as well as attending the patients with the positive Coronavirus in the hospitals.    The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) is mandated by the Government to take two main responsibilities based on Disaster management law in any disaster, first rendering rescue and relief at the time of emergency and secondly rendering public education. In this situation the IRCS as an auxiliary to the Ministry of Health and National Disaster Management Organization is making great efforts to assist 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 the 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 3 phases for training, firstly 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 tracings 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 our people and our 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 on line 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, how to use masks, ways of self-immunity and increasing immunity, how to face with suspected cases, how to manage stress of people and how to get news from authentic sources have been prepared and distributed.  • Brochures, posters, infographic (84 programs including 72 cases in Persian and 12 ones in other languages) • Movie, clip, and motion graphic (28 programs particularly for different walks of life and deaf people society) • Information sharing and publication of training contexts: Visiting social webs: 38,900,000 people Visiting training site as coronavirus.ir: 17,025,000 people Attending Corona test as test. Corona.ir: 6,700,000      388,165 of people, 8,380 volunteers, 2,777 staff  and 1,269 trainers have passed and line 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 temperaturemeasurements 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 17th March 2020; totally 4,496,776 people have successfully been screened out of whom 3,477 were referred to clinical centers for further examinations.   It should be mentioned that 3,543 personnel and 13,544 volunteers of the Iranian RC actively are taking part in a big attempt for the aforesaid operation jointly. 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 44 cases are bedridden.      With mounting the number of suspected cases, the IRCS took responsibility of Medical shelter with 2600 beds in the six provinces which has high numbers of cases for isolating people who needs to be taking care of in recovery phase of disease.    Following is brief explanation about the medical shelters:   - Isfahan province with 1 medical shelter and capacity of 500 beds - Qom province with 1 medical shelter and capacity of 600beds in which 59 cases have been hospitalized.  - Golestan province with 1 medical shelter and capacity of 200bedsin which 12 cases has been hospitalized.  - Gilan province is planning to establish medical shelter. - Mazandaran is planning to establish medical shelter.   The IRCS Volunteer Organization organized 3 meetings with 20 NGOs to coordinate their activities at this juncture. The IRCS with participation of 15 NGOs and 500 volunteers selected one of the most vulnerable districts in Tehran with 25,000 populations and trained them and distributed health kits among them. 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 32,000 hygiene kits have been distributed among the most vulnerable and pregnant women. The volunteers disinfected district no. 22 with 100 volunteers. The IRCS volunteers 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 masks, latex gloves, face shield, anti-septic gel, nylon gloves and etc, for volunteers in IRCS‘s road relief bases, IRCS Drugstores and IRCS Health and rehabilitation centers thought 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 & 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.     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 to 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 2.pdf