TEHRAN – The number of coronavirus deaths registered across the country has tripled in the first week of the current Iranian calendar month, ending July 29, compared with a week earlier, the Health Ministry reported on Saturday.A total of 204 deaths were announced by the Health Ministry during the mentioned week, a significant rise in comparison to 69 in the week ending July 22.The number of inpatients also rose from 4,119 to 7,376, and the number of outpatients climbed from 28,617 to 46,171, according to the report.Seventh peak loomingA new wave of the coronavirus is currently sweeping the country, and the seventh peak of the disease is expected to occur by October.A new wave of the coronavirus is currently sweeping the country, and the seventh peak of the disease is expected to occur by October.Considering that infection with the BA5 variant is milder than other variants, it is expected that the seventh peak of the disease to occur by October with lesser mortality, Hamidreza Jamaati, secretary of the National Scientific Committee of Coronavirus, said on July 22.If preventive measures such as wearing masks and injecting booster doses are adopted, we will not experience the rates of mortality that happened in March with Omicron or last summer with Delta, he added.At present, in Asia and Europe, the incidence of Covid and its mortality is steady and declining, while in some African and American countries, there is a growing trend of omicron variants such as BA4 and BA5, which have not spread in Iran, Jamaati said in May.MG