Coronavirus in Iran: 26 dead, new personalities affected

The epidemic of the new coronavirus left 26 dead in Iran, according to the last assessment published Thursday by the authorities of the Islamic Republic, where the list of personalities affected by the disease is growing.

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Ministry of Health spokesman Kianouche Jahanpour announced seven new deaths from the previous day. Jahanpour reported 106 additional infections, mostly in Tehran and Gilan province (North), bringing the number of people infected with Covid-19 disease in Iran to 245. " As the number of Covid-19 [disease] detection laboratories " increases, and " has grown to seven [today] and even fifteen by tomorrow ", expect " a sudden increase [in the number of people who test positive] because the waiting time in the laboratories will be reduced, ”he said.

106 new cases, 245 in total and 26 deaths

The figure of " 106 new cases " thus represents the largest daily increase reported by the authorities since the official recognition of the arrival of the disease in Iran on February 19. To date, according to Mr. Jahanpour, the " total assessment [of the viral pneumonia epidemic is] 245 infected people [including] 26 dead ".

The spokesman said that the 106 new cases had been detected in the provinces of Tehran (38), Gilan (23), Isfahan (8), Qom (7), Mazandaran (7), Ardabil (5), Lorestan ( 3), Semnan (3), Alborz (3), East Azarbaijan (2), Kermanshah (2) and Hamadan, Yazd, Kurdistan, West Azarbaijan, Khorassan-é Razavi (1 case each).

After the announcement Tuesday of the contamination of the Deputy Minister of Health, Iraj Harirchi, and of the deputy Ali Motahari, the official agency Irna reported Thursday that the vice-president in charge of Women and the Family, Massoumeh Ebtékar had contracted the virus. Ms. Ebtékar, former spokesperson for hostage-taking students of American diplomats at the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979, is being treated at home, and her team members have been tested, writes Irna.

Prayers canceled

Another sick personality, Mojtaba Zolnour, chairman of the National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee in the Iranian Parliament, announced in a video broadcast by several local media that he had contracted the disease and that he was in his forties. Conservative MP and Shiite cleric, Mr. Zolnour was elected from Qom, a holy city in central Iran, where the first cases and deaths related to the viral pneumonia epidemic from China were announced on February 19.

According to Iranian media, the disease died on Thursday in Qom, the theologian Hadi Khroroshahi, first ambassador of the Islamic Republic to the Vatican (he took office in 1981).

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On Wednesday evening, the Iranian authorities announced restrictions on free movement in the country in order to stop the spread of the virus. Rare fact, they announced Thursday the cancellation of the great weekly Muslim prayer on Friday in Tehran and in the capitals of 22 other provinces (out of 31), including the holy cities of Qom and Machhad, as well as in other infected areas .

In a thank you message to the doctors and nurses, the Iranian supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he hoped that their dedication to the sick and their action would " eradicate the sinister virus soon ".

In China, it has infected more than 78,000 people and left 2,744 dead. Outside of China, Iran is the country where the most deaths related to this epidemic have been reported.