Along with Italy and South Korea, Iran is still one of the countries most affected by the coronavirus, outside of China. A finding that was reinforced as the Iranian Ministry of Health announced, Sunday, March 8, the death of 49 people infected with the new coronavirus. This is the highest daily death toll in Iran since the official announcement of the first cases on February 19.
In total, "at least 194 of our compatriots infected with the Covid-19 disease have died," said ministry spokesman Kianouche Jahanpour during a televised press conference. According to him, "743 people have been infected with Covid-19 disease in the past 24 hours".
Iran is one of the global centers of the epidemic of new coronavirus, which appeared in China. The virus is spreading throughout the 31 provinces of the Islamic Republic and the situation in the northern provinces is deteriorating.
The most affected province of Tehran
With 1,805 cases of infections in total, the province of Tehran is still the province with the most cases, according to the spokesman, who added that 685 cases in total had been detected in the province of Qom, holy city Shiite 150 km south of the Iranian capital.
Eight Iranian politicians or senior leaders are among those who died of the virus, including Conservative MP Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, elected in the legislative elections last February.
No quarantine measures have yet been announced, but several provinces have said they do not provide accommodation to tourists in an attempt to discourage them from traveling.
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"A total of 564 cases have been identified in Isfahan (center), a tourist destination," said the Ministry of Health, adding that the number of patients was increasing "rapidly" in this province.
IranAir has suspended all flights to Europe, the official Irna agency reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the civil aviation agency.
The Saudi province of Qatif closed off
Authorities closed schools and universities until the end of the Iranian year on March 19, marking the start of the Persian New Year holidays, which last this year until April 3.
These holidays are traditionally the occasion for family reunions and tourist trips. The latter will however be limited, especially for the Shiite-majority region of Qatif in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has indeed announced Sunday the "temporary" closure of this area, where have been recorded to date the 11 cases of new coronavirus in the country. Most of them have been detected in people returning from Iran.
"In accordance with the precautionary measures recommended by the competent health authorities (...), entries and exits in the Qatif region are temporarily suspended," said a source within the Interior Ministry, quoted by the agency. official press release.
The Qatif region is the first region of the Gulf sealed off by the authorities due to the epidemic. "The activities of all public services and private institutions are suspended (...) except for basic facilities to ensure the necessary security, supplies and services," added the same source.
Saudi Arabia has taken several restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, including the suspension of the small Muslim pilgrimage, Umrah, in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
With AFP and Reuters
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