Tehran (AFP)

The new coronavirus has resulted in three new deaths in Iran, bringing the death toll to 15 in the country, where President Hassan Rohani has called for calm while health workers have been deployed to disinfect public spaces.

Deputy Minister of Health Iraj Harirchi said on Tuesday in a video broadcast on state television that he was infected with the new coronavirus.

"I had a fever last night and the preliminary tests were positive around midnight," he said without fail. "I have isolated myself since (...) after my last test, I started treatment," added the deputy minister, who seems to have filmed the video himself.

The day before, during a conference during which he had coughed and appeared to be sweating, Mr. Harirchi had denied the words of a deputy from Qom reporting 50 deaths from the epidemic of viral pneumonia in his city of center of the country where the virus left in Iran. He had promised to resign if this figure was confirmed.

The number of deaths from the new coronavirus in Iran is the second highest after mainland China, where more than 2,600 people died from Covid-19.

Latest, the United Arab Emirates, an important trading partner for Tehran, has suspended flights with Iran, such as Armenia, Kuwait, Iraq and Turkey.

Since the announcement on February 19 of the first two deaths from the disease, in Qom, a holy Shiite city that attracts pilgrims and theologians from all over the world, the government has promised to be more transparent after being accused of downplaying the toll.

- Suspended events -

The Ministry of Health confirmed 34 new cases and three deaths on Tuesday: two elderly women, whose state of health was already degraded by different pathologies, from the central province of Markazi, and a patient from the province of Alborz, in the north, according to the official agency Irna.

"Three cases of infection with the new coronavirus have been confirmed in the city of Saveh (Markazi province), with two deaths," said Abbas Nikravesh, who heads the city's medical university.

"There is now a 78-year-old Afghan woman infected and under special care," said Irna, who did not identify the deceased in Alborz, only indicating that she had been under "special care" since. A few days. Two other confirmed cases are hospitalized in Alborz, says Irna.

According to the Ministry of Health, most of the cases concern people who have recently visited Qom.

Ministry spokesman Kianouche Jahanpour said 16 of the new cases had been confirmed in Qom, nine in Tehran and two in Alborz, Gilan and Mazandaran.

The virus appears to be spreading in several other provinces, a case having been identified in the provinces of Khorassan (northeast), Fars and on the island of Qeshm (south).

Epicenter of the epidemic, Qom has not yet been quarantined, but religious events planned there, notably at the Masoumeh mausoleum, have been suspended while disinfecting the premises.

- "A threatening unforeseen event" -

In photos published by local news agencies, men in blue uniforms were seen wearing masks and spraying walls and objects with disinfectant in the mausoleum, while unprotected worshipers were praying and kissing the decorated structure surrounding a tomb.

In other provinces such as Tehran, the metro and buses were disinfected overnight.

Rohani called for calm, saying the epidemic was no worse than others that have already affected Iran.

"A threatening unforeseen event may still arise, but we must keep moving forward," the president said on state television.

Sales of masks, disinfectant gel and disposable gloves have exploded, with many officials promising to increase production.

Many schools, universities and cultural centers were closed until the end of the week.

The country is still looking for the origin of the virus on its territory. Health Minister Said Namaki, however, said that one of the dead in Qom was a local merchant who had made several trips to China.

Namaki had pleaded without success in January for the suspension of flights between Iran and China. The suspension is effective today but the merchant of Qom had not taken a direct flight.

© 2020 AFP