Daily Times

Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi and a member of parliament tested positive for the coronavirus as the death toll inside the country rose to 16 on Tuesday.

“My corona test is positive […] I don’t have a lot of hope of continuing life in this world,” Mahmoud Sadeghi, the parliamentarian from Tehran, wrote on Twitter.

Also among the infected was the deputy health minister, who posted a video online announcing his infection which was shown on state media.

“Among those who had been suspected of the virus, 35 (new cases) have been confirmed and two died of the coronavirus infection,” said Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur. He said 95 people had been infected across Iran.

Iran has the highest number of coronavirus deaths outside China, where the virus emerged in December and more than 2,600 have died.

Jahanpur put the death toll at 15, but the state news agency later said one person infected by the virus had died in the city of Saveh. Some unconfirmed reports gave a higher death toll.

Worried that official numbers could underestimate the scale of Iran’s outbreak, many Iranians took to social media to accuse authorities of concealing facts.

The head of the Medical Science University in the holy city of Qom, Mohammad Reza Ghadir, expressed concern over the spread of those people infected by the virus across the city, adding the health ministry had banned releasing figures linked to the coronavirus.

Authorities on Tuesday ordered the nationwide cancellation of concerts and soccer matches and the closure of schools and universities in many provinces, and urging Iranians to stay home.

Iran said on Monday 900 cases were suspected, dismissing claims by a lawmaker from Qom who said 50 people had died in the city, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak.

“It is an uninvited and inauspicious visitor. God willing we will get through […] this virus,” said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a televised speech.