Iran today reported 63 new deaths from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day toll since it announced the first deaths from the outbreak.
In an attempt to combat the disease, which has claimed most lives in the capital of Tehran, firefighters were deployed this morning to spray disinfectant over the city’s streets.
Iran’s Health Ministry said the deaths are among some 9,000 confirmed cases in Iran, where the virus has spread to all of the country’s provinces.
‘Based on new lab results, we have identified 958 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the country, bringing the total number of cases to 9,000,’ health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
Firefighters on a firetruck trundle down a road in southern Tehran today, spraying disinfectant to stem the spread of the coronavirus
A firefighter points from the spraying end of a fire truck that is disinfecting the streets of Tehran, today
Disinfection works are being carried out by fire brigade crew in the streets of Tehran as a precaution against coronavirus (COVID-19) today
Iranian firefighters disinfect the streets of Tehran to halt the spread of the coronavirus today
‘Unfortunately in the past 24 hours, we have had reports of 63 deaths and overall 354 have lost their lives’ to the virus, he added.
The capital Tehran had the most new infections with 256 cases.
The central province of Isfahan followed with 170, and Semnan, to the east of Tehran, had 63.
Bushehr as well as Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad in the southwest had no new cases.
Disinfectant can be seen being sprayed from the hoses on the fire truck during a mission to halt the spread of the coronavirus on the streets of Tehran today
The total number of Iranian infections rose to 9,000 today, the highest rate outside of China. Pictured: Firefighters use their hose to spray the streets of Tehran with disinfectant today
Disinfection works are being carried out by fire brigade crew at streets as a precaution against coronavirus (COVID-19) at Enqelab Street today in Tehran, Iran
Iran is yet to officially impose quarantines but authorities have repeatedly called on people to refrain from travelling.
They have closed schools and universities and resorted to shutting hotels and other tourist accommodation to discourage travel.
Across the Middle East, the vast majority of the 9,700 people who have contracted the coronavirus and the COVID-19 illness it causes are in hard-hit Iran or had recently returned from there.
A worker signals to the camera during an attempt to stem the coronavirus outbreak with street disinfection in Tehran, Iran
Disinfection works are being carried out by fire brigade crew at streets as a precaution against coronavirus (COVID-19) at Enqelab Street today in Tehran
Pictured: Workers disinfecting the streets of Tehran today. Five members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard have died from the coronavirus
Among the dead are five of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard members and an unspecified number of the Guard’s volunteer Basij force.
Iran’s supreme leader had said Tuesday that the Islamic Republic will recognize doctors and nurses who die combating the new coronavirus as ‘martyrs’.
The decision by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comes amid a propaganda campaign already trying to link the fight against the virus to Iran’s long, bloody 1980s war with Iraq.
Pictured: Workers disinfecting the streets of Tehran today. Doctors and nurses who die treating coronavirus patients will be remembered as martyrs, Ayatollah Khamenei said yesterday
Pictured: Workers disinfecting the streets of Tehran today
Disinfection works are being carried out by fire brigade crew at streets as a precaution against coronavirus (COVID-19) at Enqelab Street today in Tehran
Most of the Middle East’s confirmed cases transited through the Islamic Republic
Its forces, which include virologists, faced chemical weapons during Iran’s eight-year war against Iraq.
That the Guard is involved in the relief effort of a major catastrophe is not surprising in Iran.
The Guard, whose forces include an estimated 125,000-plus troops and 600,000 mission-ready volunteers, routinely respond to the earthquakes that shake the country. Recent floods saw its troops mobilize as well.
Outside of Iran, only Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon have recorded deaths from the virus in the Middle East.
In the Gulf Arab island nation of Bahrain, authorities say their number of confirmed cases on Wednesday spiked by nearly 70 per cent to 189 confirmed cases. The 77 new cases were all on a returning flight of Bahraini evacuees from Iran.
Disinfection works are being carried out by fire brigade crew at streets as a precaution against coronavirus (COVID-19) at Enqelab Street today in Iran
There are concerns that the number of infections across Iran is much higher than the confirmed cases reported by the government, which is struggling to contain or manage its spread. The rising casualty figures each day in Iran suggest the fight against the new coronavirus is far from over.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.
Saudi Arabia has barred travel to and from 14 countries affected by the new virus. Early on, as the virus spread in Asia, the kingdom stopped pilgrimages to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, and cut travel links with China and later, Iran. It has also barred entry and exit for residents of Qatif, an eastern Saudi province where most of the country’s 21 cases of the virus are confirmed after travel back to Iran.
Elsewhere, Israel ordered two weeks of home quarantine for anyone arriving from overseas. The outbreak in Israel has been largely contained, but it has begun to gain pace in recent days, with a total of 58 cases diagnosed as of Tuesday. There are 26 confirmed cases in the Palestinian Territories.