Iran Health Minister Contracts Coronavirus
Iranian state media has reported that the country’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi tested positive for coronavirus this Tuesday.
The development was confirmed by a spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry in a television interview. Meanwhile, Harirchi has been quarantined.
Harirchi is reported to have been at the forefront of the country’s response to the outbreak since Tehran confirmed its first two cases of the novel virus COVID-19 last Wednesday.
Schools have been closed across much of the country for the last two days and five of Iran’s seven neighbours have closed their borders with the Islamic Republic.
Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces at the weekend, over Tehran’s handling of the country’s outbreak, local media reported.
The novel coronavirus was first reported in China in December last year and has since frog-jumped into a dozen more countries killing thousands of people mostly in mainland China.
There are great fears that the virus may kill millions of people if it spreads to Africa and other developing countries whose health systems are already in shambles or collapsed.
More: New Ziana