TEHRAN – Some people claim that If Iran had better interaction with the world, more facilities would have been imported and coronavirus mortality would have been much less. So, we have compared Iran with eight countries that are not under sanctions to find out which one did better in battling the pandemic?

Here, we compare the “number of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic” to the “population” of eight countries, namely, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

By measuring the number of deaths per population, the success rate of each country in battling the pandemic will be realized.

In this study, the “population” of countries according to the statistics of 2019 and the COVID-19 mortality rate has been extracted from the worldometers.info website from the beginning of the outbreak till August 21, when the number of coronavirus-related deaths in Iran was about 100,000 people.

The United States has a population of about 328 million which is almost 4 times the 83 million population of Iran. However, the infection claimed the lives of about 640,000 Americans.

Iran controlled the pandemic 94 percent better than the United Kingdom.Given that the U.S. population is about 4 times that of Iran, if the "medical facilities" and "access to medical equipment" are "equal" in both countries, the U.S. should have lost 400,000 people, however, 640,000 people have died of coronavirus, which means the U.S. battle against the pandemic has been 62 percent worse than Iran’s.

The population of Brazil is about 211 million, which is about 2.5 times Iran’s population. But 570,000 Brazilians died of the virus.

Given Brazil’s population in comparison to Iran, the death toll should have been a maximum of 250,000. In other words, Brazil's management has been 125 percent weaker than Iran’s.

Considering Russia’s population of about 145 million, or about 1.75 times that of Iran, coronavirus mortality has been estimated at 173,000. In other words, Russia’s management has been only one percent better than Iran’s. Moreover, Russia has the technology to make vaccines and has given some to Iran.

Germany and Iran both have an equal population of 83 million, while the death toll in Germany was estimated at about 92,000, which is slightly less than in Iran. So that, Germany, with all its facilities, has managed the pandemic only 8 percent better than Iran.

Having a population of 67 million people, France is 19 percent less populated than Iran but has lost about 113,000 people during the outbreak. A country with a smaller population but more deaths.

If “medical facilities” and “access to resources” were “equal” in both France and Iran, the pandemic should have killed a maximum of 80,000. So, the management of France has been 49 percent worse.

Italians with a population of 60 million, 28 percent less than Iranians, have lost 128,000 people due to the infection. In comparison to Iran, Italy’s death toll should have been 72,000. In other words, Iran fought the pandemic 77 percent better than Italy.

Given that 56 million people are living in the United Kingdom, a population of 33 percent less than Iran, the pandemic claimed the lives of about 131,000 British people.

If the two countries had an equal amount of "medical facilities" and "access to resources”, only 67,000 people would have died. So that, Iran controlled the disease 94 percent better than the United Kingdom.

The last country to compare with Iran is Spain, which is home to 47 million people, showing 43 percent less population compared to Iran.

If the conditions in Iran and Spain are assumed to be equal, the pandemic-related deaths should have been reported at 56,000, but now it has killed 83,000 people. So, the management of Spain has been 46 percent weaker.

FB/MG