Iran has suffered its worst daily death toll yet with 129 more people dying from coronavirus in one of the world’s worst hit countries.
The latest deaths bring the overall toll to 853 fatalities since February 19, when the government announced Iran’s first two deaths from the COVID-19 disease.
It comes as Iran’s coronavirus outbreak has killed a member of the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader. State media reported the death of Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayeganim, 78, on Monday, taking the death toll among serving and ex-officials to at least 12.
A nurse wears protective gear in a ward for people infected with the new coronavirus, at a hospital in Tehran. Iran has suffered its worst daily death toll yet with 129 more people dying from coronavirus in one of the world’s worst hit countries
‘Our plea is that everyone take this virus seriously and in no way attempt to travel to any province,’ health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
Jahanpour also reported 1,053 confirmed new cases of infection in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 14,991.
Tehran province had the highest number of new infections with 200 cases, about 50 fewer than the day before.
The central province of Isfahan followed with 118 cases, with Mazandaran in the north of Iran coming next with 96.
Khorasan Razavi province, home to the holy Shiite city of Mashhad, was not among the reported provinces with fresh cases. It had recorded 143 the day before.
‘If we judge cautiously, it seems that the overall efforts by the people and interventions by the health system… are slowly showing their effects in Qom and Gilan,’ Jahanpour said.
The holy city of Qom in central Iran, where the virus was first reported, had 19 new cases that took the total to 1,023.
And confirmed infections in Gilan reached 858, with 18 new ones. The northern region is a popular tourist spot and among the worst-hit of Iran’s 31 provinces.
Ayatollah Golpayegani died two days after testing positive for the COVID-19 disease and being hospitalised, state news agency IRNA reported.
State media reported the death of Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayeganim, 78, (pictured) on Monday, taking the death toll among serving and ex-officials to at least 12. Golpayegani died two days after testing positive for the COVID-19 disease and being hospitalised
The official represented Tehran in the Assembly of Experts, an 88-strong body of clerics that appoints and monitors Iran’s supreme leader.
At least 12 Iranian politicians and officials, both sitting and former, have now died of the illness, and 13 more have been infected and are either in quarantine or being treated.
The virus also killed a prominent economist and political activist on Monday, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA.
Fariborz Rais-Dana, 71, succumbed to the illness after being hospitalised for six days, ISNA reported.
A prolific writer with a PhD from the London School of Economics, he had spent time in prison after being convicted of spreading propaganda against the system.
Mohammad Mirmohammadi (pictured left), a member of the Expediency Council which is hand-picked by the Supreme Leader of Iran, died aged 71 after falling sick with coronavirus. In this picture he is seated alongside two other officials, including Ali Akbar Velayti (centre)
Hossein Sheikholeslam (pictured), an aide of Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif,is another senior official to die from coronavirus
Iran has been scrambling to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus which so far has infected nearly 14,000 people and killed over 720, according to official figures.
The number of coronavirus deaths and infections have been on the rise ever since the first two fatalities were announced on February 19.
According to the health ministry, the rising trend is due to the increasing number of tests being carried out.
Iranian firefighters disinfect streets in an effort to halt the wild spread of coronavirus in Tehran. Iran has been scrambling to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus which so far has infected nearly 14,000 people and killed over 720, according to official figures
It says many patients started showing symptoms days after they were infected.
Official tolls, which are given every 24 hours, have usually lagged behind reports by local media and have sometimes been contradicted by provincial authorities.
Iran is yet to impose a lockdown but it has temporarily closed parliament, barred pilgrims from gathering at a holy tomb and postponed the second round of legislative elections.
Officials have repeatedly urged citizens to stick to guidelines and stay at home to stop the coronavirus from spreading.
