UPDATE on the situation 24 MARCH 2020 -
Earlier today, a spokesperson from the Iranian Ministry of Health announced that MSF programme in Isfahan was stopped, as Iran didn't need extra inpatient & treatment capacity for severe forms of Covid. the spokesperson actually expressed its gratitude to MSF for its offer to help, but also stated that MSF hadn't discussed this programme with the relevant people in MoH (which doesn't correspond to truth).
Until further notice, we then consider that our intervention in Isfahan is now over.
important clarification: contrary to what some media reported, MSF staff has not been expelled from the country.

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MSF is in the process of setting up a treatment unit in Isfahan, Iran to treat patients critically ill with Covid-19.

The 50-bed inflatable treatment unit has been shipped by air from MSF’s logistics hub in Bordeaux, France and is to be set up in the compound of Amin Hospital in Isfahan. The unit is equipped to treat critically ill patients requiring constant strict medical supervision and care.

An MSF emergency team comprised of nine emergency and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) medical doctors and logisticians are to run the unit. The team will work with local medical staff and in close coordination with the Iranian health authorities.

B-Roll (shotlist), pictures and video ITV

MSF began working in Iran in 1991 and, since that time, has responded to several emergencies. For example, in 2003 after the earthquake that struck Bam, and in 2019 when flooding hit several of the country’s provinces, which included Lorestan, Golestan and Khuzestan.

Alongside the provision of emergency assistance, MSF continues to run routine activities for refugees and other vulnerable people in Tehran and Mashhad although, due to the outbreak of Covid-19, some of these have had to be cut back. MSF has been providing primary health care—medical and midwife consultations, infectious diseases screening, hepatitis C treatment and nursing and mental health care services—to vulnerable populations, facing exclusion from healthcare provision, in South Tehran since 2012 and Mashhad since 2018.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, MSF teams currently intervene in Italy, supporting three hospitals in the most affected areas in the North of the country. In France and Belgium, the organisation is supporting efforts to detect and manage Covid-19 cases among vulnerable populations such as homeless people, migrants and unaccompanied minors. In Spain, MSF is collaborating with authorities in order to increase case management capacities.

In countries where MSF is already running medical programmes, teams are reviewing activities to adapt to the current Covid-19 crisis, and are coordinating with local health authorities to see how they could help in detection and management of Covid-19.