TEHRAN,Iran, April 6
Trend:
Iranian companies are producing 40 ventilators per day to cover the needs of hospitals during the coronavirus crisis, said Mehdi Yousefi, an official in the Health Ministry, Trend reports via IRNA.
"Previously the production of ventilators in the country was 5 devices per day now the production has increased to 40," said Yousefi.
"Three manufacturing companies in the country have already provided 1,000 ventilators since the start of the pandemic," he added.
"We have reached the conclusion that there is no need for import, while 1,200 ICU beds are to be equipped by mid-May," he said.
"The donors' board in the Health Ministry has so far assigned around 6,000 billion rials (about $140 million) to consumed goods in the medical sciences universities, and it will invest in domestic producers to reduce imports," he added.
"Previously around 500,000 face masks were produced domestically per day while in the current times, the production has jumped to 4 million masks per day," he added.
"We predict the following volume would be sufficient for public demands although the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade has imported masks as well," he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.
Iran continues to apply strict measures to contain the further infection spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.
The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.