kayhan.ir

News ID: 84281
Publish Date : 28 October 2020 - 21:24

COVID-19 Deaths Hit New Record



TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- One person is dying from COVID-19 every three minutes in Iran, national television said on Wednesday, as the health ministry reported a record daily toll of 415 fatalities.
Parliament speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf tweeted that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest among dozens of officials to be infected.
"One of my colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus; my test that came at midnight also turned out positive,” he announced on Twitter.
"I am currently in quarantine and, God willing, will be following up... on my responsibilities,” he said.
At least two MPs of Iran’s new parliament formed earlier this year have died of coronavirus and several others been infected.
Non-essential businesses have been shut in Tehran and dozens of other cities as cases rise again in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
Schools, theatres and museums have been shut and social, cultural and religious events cancelled for at least a week.
Iranian authorities have blamed the sharp increase on people failing to follow restrictions.
Total fatalities from the disease have reached 33,714, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.
The number of confirmed cases rose by 6,824 in the past 24 hours to 558,648, she added.
Iran has recorded several new highs in both deaths and infections in recent weeks, as figures have kept rising since September.