Elders at corona risk? Well, well, 103-yr old woman beats COVID-19 in Iran

New Delhi, March 18: Miracle? No clue at all but a 103-year-old woman in Iran who had been suffering from the novel corona virus has recovered completely despite overwhelming evidence that the elderly are most at risk from the disease. Iran has yet to impose any lockdowns, but the state has repeatedly called on the public to stay home for the Iranian New Year holidays starting this week.

 

The unnamed woman had been hospitalized in the central city of Semnan for about a week, as revealed by the local reports. "She was discharged after making a complete recovery", Semnan University of Medical Sciences head Navid Danai was quoted. While total coronavirus cases in Iran have reached over 16,000, and have claimed at least 1,135 lives as of March 18, a 91-year-old man from Kerman, in the southeast of Iran also survived after contracting COVID-19.

 

"After being sick for three days, he recovered on Monday despite having pre-existing medical conditions including high blood pressure and asthma", Danai added. However, the hospital did not mentioned how both the elderly patients of the fatal virus were treated. The World Health Organization this month has released an estimate revealing that the novel coronavirus kills 3.4 percent of all those infected.

 

Since it announced its first two deaths in the holy Shia city of Qom on February 19, Iran has taken a series of additional steps to contain the virus. It has also closed schools and universities until early April, as well as four key pilgrimage sites, including the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom. It has also cancelled the main weekly Friday prayers, and temporarily closed its parliament.