According to a document sent to Iran International, the number of beds in the hospitals allocated to the treatment of coronavirus patients in Iran is only a third of the number of patients reported by the government.

The document reveals that so far 663 hospitals in the country have been designated for coronavirus patients and they have 103154 hospital beds combined. However, the latest official statistics from the Ministry of Health claim that there are over 312000 coronavirus patients in Iran. Which makes the number of patients almost three times the number of hospital beds.

The document shows that although not all patients require hospitalization, with the numbers of patients on the rise, the hospitals are facing an increasing shortage of beds.

Based on the document, 91 percent of Iran’s ICU beds allocated to coronavirus patients are currently occupied.  While 4496 ICU beds are allocated to coronavirus patients, the Ministry of Health numbers say there are 4104 patients hospitalized in ICU with severe symptoms.

The report about hospital bed shortage comes at a time when Islamic Republic officials, including President Rouhani, have repeatedly claimed Iran has sufficient facilities and equipment for the epidemic.

President Rouhani had previously claimed that Iran has been “above international standards”.