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Iran’s coronavirus nurses, doctors keep patients upbeat by dancing

March 3, 2020 at 2:40 pm

Emergency first responders wearing protective masks stand along a street in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 24, 2020. – [ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images]

Iranian nurses and doctors have been videoed dancing to keep morale up during the country’s coronavirus outbreak. The footage features Iranian healthcare professionals dancing while wearing layers of protective gear, including hazmat suits and masks.

https://twitter.com/dosti_3_3_3/status/1234798539575889921

Iran’s outbreak is the deadliest outside of China, with 2,336 confirmed cases and 77 reported deaths, at the time of writing. Several of the infected are leading politicians, including the Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, the head of Iran’s emergency services, Hossein Kolivand and 23 of the country’s MPs.

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While, Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a senior aide to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died as a result of the disease on 2 March. Nevertheless, healthcare professionals have been dancing to keep morale up.

The government’s response has been mired with accusations that the number of cases has been deliberately under reported. While on Tuesday, Supreme Leader Khamenei termed the outbreak “not that big of a deal”.

One video shows a lively nurse wearing a hazmat suit and protective mask, dancing energetically in a hospital ward with empty beds.

Several other videos show groups of doctors and nurses, dressed in hazmat suits, completing what some users have called a “doctor and nurses dance challenge”.

https://twitter.com/iran1999/status/1234773334476427264

Other groups have resorting to singing, with one healthcare professional playing a guitar for quarantined patients and colleagues alike.

The footage emerged after Chinese doctors and nurses made videos dancing with quarantined patients and celebrating discharging people by dancing outside the hospital.

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