TELL THE TRUTH

Data Leak Reveals Iran’s COVID-19 Crisis Is Three Times Worse Than Government Admitted

Iran claims around 14,000 have died from the virus—but its records show the true number is nearly 42,000.

Iran tried to cover up the extent of its coronavirus outbreak by keeping nearly two-thirds of the country’s deaths secret, according to a data leak obtained by BBC News. Government records reportedly show that nearly 42,000 people have died with COVID-19 symptoms—but the health ministry has only reported around 14,000. The number of people confirmed to be infected is also almost double what the government said it was: 451,024 rather than 278,827. Even those dubious official numbers make Iran the worst-hit in the Middle East, but the leaked numbers show the outbreak was far worse than the government has tried to claim. The data also reportedly shows that first COVID-19 death in Iran was recorded on Jan. 22, a month before the first official case of the coronavirus was reported by the government. The BBC’s unnamed source said they wanted to “shed light on truth” and end “political games” over the pandemic.