Iran took three weeks to stop relations with China • Islamic Republic started responding to plague too late, and official numbers are alarming

Is it this time? Will the spread of the Corona in Iran succeed in doing what it has not done in more than a decade of protests? As always, the answer is - you can't tell.

Iran: Corona patient passed out near hospital entrance // From: Twitter

The initial response to Corona was smug and arrogant, with Iran taking three weeks and 55 more flights than the rest of the world to end its relationship with China. We all remember Deputy Health Minister Irge Harirchi relaxing at a press conference and saying the Corona scare was misplaced.

When the next day, Khirarchi Shelka announced in Corona, the reactions in the networks - other than those wishing him a quick death and some wishing him well - suggested that he was not ill at all, but would heal within a few days while demonstrating that there was nothing to fear from the Corona.

Although he was already recovering, the theory was probably wrong, because at least 12 seniors had already plagued the plague and another 43 had fallen ill. In a regime where most seniors are men who smoke over 60 (in fact, there is only one minister born after the revolution), this is not surprising.

The Islamic Republic has started responding to the epidemic too late, and official numbers are alarming - but my rumor says that the real numbers are bigger. The lack of confidence in the official figures published by the Ministry of Health is also expressed above the House of Representatives. That is, the Majles has been disabled, but district officials are reporting on their social networking channels of patient and victimization numbers that are far larger than the official numbers.

Hundreds of medical staff, doctors and nurses report on hundreds of people in every hospital on social networks. According to press sites, even those that are regime enhancers, hospitals have already collapsed. Opposition sites speak of tens of thousands of dead, but keep in mind that they are also biased. The real numbers are probably somewhere in the middle.

There is no need to cancel New Year's parties. The New Year, which took place on March 20 and lasted 13 days of mutual visits, probably will not take place this year, because people do not leave home. The second round of Majles elections, which is scheduled to take place in April, will probably be postponed to September-September, with Asfahan starting to produce masks and by New Year, we were assured, there will already be testing kits for Iran-made Corona.

Meanwhile, on the one hand, we are witnessing ghost towns, a sharp increase in detergent and disinfectant consumption, and about 70 people who were hospitalized after drinking industrial or medical alcohol to disinfect their bodies from the inside, and on the other hand to bold young people who lick crying at holy sites to illustrate their safety. Which probably saves them is their age).

So are we ever closer to switching power? On the one hand people are not even taking to the streets to even buy milk, on the other you will know how many seniors will remain alive after the corona, and how distrustful the regime has also seeped into its traditional supporters, those who have already lost much of their trust after the Ukrainian plane affair. In short, we are one day closer than yesterday.