Coronavirus kills four in Iran, taking total to 19: ministry
President Rouhani accuses the US of trying to spread "fear" in Iran over a deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus
PHOTO: REUTERS
TEHRAN:
Iran on Wednesday reported four more novel coronavirus deaths among 44 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 19 and infections to 139.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour called on Iranians to refrain from travel as he announced the new tallies on state television.
Fifteen new COVID-19 cases surfaced in the Shiite holy city of Qom, nine in Gilan, four in Tehran, three in Khuzestan, two each in Sistan and Baluchistan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad, and Fars, and one in Markazi, Kermanshah, Ardebil, Mazandaran, Lorestan, Semnan and Hormozgan, he said.
Dozens allowed off Japan virus-hit ship have 'symptoms': minister
Iran has been scrambling to contain COVID-19 since Wednesday last week when it announced the first two deaths in Qom, a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims that attracts scholars from abroad.
It has closed schools, universities, cultural centres, sporting events and deployed teams of sanitary workers to disinfect buses, trains and public spaces.
The latest health ministry figures show the virus has spread to all four corners of the country.
Newly hit regions include southwestern Khuzestan, Lorestan in the west, Semnan in central Iran, the southern province of Hormozgan, and Sistan and Baluchistan as well as Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad in the southeast.
But despite the rapid spread of coronavirus, the authorities have so far dismissed quarantine as an option to control the outbreak.
According to Jahanpour, the situation in Qom was "improving".
"Every 24 hours at least 10 per cent of those hospitalised or suspect cases are discharged with good general health," he said.
But in Gilan "things are slightly concerning", he added, as it has had the second-highest number of new cases, some of which were in people who had made trips to other provinces.
The northern province on the Caspian Sea coast a favourite holiday spot for Iranians, especially for people from the capital Tehran.
Rouhani slams Trump
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to spread "fear" in Iran over a deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
"We shouldn't let America mount a new virus on top of coronavirus that is called... extreme fear," Rouhani told a weekly cabinet meeting, a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of suppressing information about the outbreak.
The Americans "themselves are struggling with coronavirus. Sixteen thousand people have died of influenza there but they don't talk about their own (dead)," Rouhani said.
Iran has been scrambling to contain COVID-19 since Wednesday last week when it announced the first two deaths in Qom, a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims that attracts scholars from abroad.
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Its authorities have closed schools, universities, cultural centres, sporting events and deployed teams of sanitary workers to disinfect buses, trains and public spaces.
On Tuesday, Pompeo accused the Islamic republic of concealing the true extent of the outbreak.
"The United States is deeply concerned by information indicating the Iranian regime may have suppressed vital details about the outbreak," he told reporters in Washington.
Rouhani said Iran had been making progress in the fight against the virus as "we witness fewer (hospital) visits and progress in treatment".
"If 100 people were hospitalised in the early days, seven to eight could have died, but this number has dropped very much today," he said.
The Iranian president also vowed to be transparent about the numbers of deaths and infections caused by the virus.
Iran on Wednesday reported four more novel coronavirus deaths among 44 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 19 and infections to 139.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour called on Iranians to refrain from travel as he announced the new tallies on state television.
Fifteen new COVID-19 cases surfaced in the Shiite holy city of Qom, nine in Gilan, four in Tehran, three in Khuzestan, two each in Sistan and Baluchistan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad, and Fars, and one in Markazi, Kermanshah, Ardebil, Mazandaran, Lorestan, Semnan and Hormozgan, he said.
Dozens allowed off Japan virus-hit ship have 'symptoms': minister
Iran has been scrambling to contain COVID-19 since Wednesday last week when it announced the first two deaths in Qom, a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims that attracts scholars from abroad.
It has closed schools, universities, cultural centres, sporting events and deployed teams of sanitary workers to disinfect buses, trains and public spaces.
The latest health ministry figures show the virus has spread to all four corners of the country.
Newly hit regions include southwestern Khuzestan, Lorestan in the west, Semnan in central Iran, the southern province of Hormozgan, and Sistan and Baluchistan as well as Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad in the southeast.
But despite the rapid spread of coronavirus, the authorities have so far dismissed quarantine as an option to control the outbreak.
According to Jahanpour, the situation in Qom was "improving".
"Every 24 hours at least 10 per cent of those hospitalised or suspect cases are discharged with good general health," he said.
But in Gilan "things are slightly concerning", he added, as it has had the second-highest number of new cases, some of which were in people who had made trips to other provinces.
The northern province on the Caspian Sea coast a favourite holiday spot for Iranians, especially for people from the capital Tehran.
Rouhani slams Trump
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to spread "fear" in Iran over a deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
"We shouldn't let America mount a new virus on top of coronavirus that is called... extreme fear," Rouhani told a weekly cabinet meeting, a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of suppressing information about the outbreak.
The Americans "themselves are struggling with coronavirus. Sixteen thousand people have died of influenza there but they don't talk about their own (dead)," Rouhani said.
Iran has been scrambling to contain COVID-19 since Wednesday last week when it announced the first two deaths in Qom, a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims that attracts scholars from abroad.
Coronavirus infects US soldier in South Korea as pandemic fears fuel market selloff
Its authorities have closed schools, universities, cultural centres, sporting events and deployed teams of sanitary workers to disinfect buses, trains and public spaces.
On Tuesday, Pompeo accused the Islamic republic of concealing the true extent of the outbreak.
"The United States is deeply concerned by information indicating the Iranian regime may have suppressed vital details about the outbreak," he told reporters in Washington.
Rouhani said Iran had been making progress in the fight against the virus as "we witness fewer (hospital) visits and progress in treatment".
"If 100 people were hospitalised in the early days, seven to eight could have died, but this number has dropped very much today," he said.
The Iranian president also vowed to be transparent about the numbers of deaths and infections caused by the virus.