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The WHO has also expressed concern over the speed at which Covid-19 was being exported from Iran to other countries. Photo: EPA

Iran rocked by ‘rapid’ coronavirus outbreak

  • Eight people in Iran been reported dead from a new coronavirus that emerged in China
  • The WHO has expressed concern over the speed at which the virus has spread in Iran and its neighbours
Agencies

Iran has taken drastic measures to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, ordering the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres across 14 provinces from Sunday following eight deaths in the Islamic Republic – the most outside East Asia and the first in the Middle East.

Iran’s outbreak surfaced on Wednesday and has quickly worsened with 43 cases confirmed.

“The concern is … that we have seen … a very rapid increase (in Iran) in a matter of a few days,” said Sylvie Briand, director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global infectious hazard preparedness department.

Iran’s government also ordered all “art and cinema events” nationwide cancelled until the end of the coming week.

Neighbouring Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from Iran, and flag carrier Kuwait Airways has suspended flights to the country. Pakistan and Turkey also closed their borders with the neighbouring country.

Although Egypt is the only African country with a confirmed case of Covid-19 – the name given to the disease caused by the virus – the WHO warned that the continent’s health systems were ill-equipped to cope with a potential major outbreak and urged more cooperation among the African Union.

An Iranian child wears a face mask in Tehran. Photo: EPA

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said necessary treatment tools such as respiratory support machines were “in short supply in many African countries and that’s a cause for concern”.

Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday accused foreign media of trying to use the deadly outbreak in Iran to “discourage” people from voting in a general election.

“This negative propaganda began a few months ago and grew larger approaching the election and in the past two days, under the pretext of an illness and a virus, their media did not miss the slightest opportunity to discourage people from voting,” said Khamenei.

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“(Our enemies) are even opposed to any election by the Iranian people,” the leader was quoted as saying on his official website.

Iranians voted in a parliamentary election on Friday, two days after the announcement of the outbreak in the country.

A low turnout had already been expected after a conservative-dominated electoral watchdog disqualified thousands of candidates, most of them moderates and reformists.

Khamenei lauded the people’s “huge participation” in the vote.

An Iranian plane arrives at the Najaf airport, Iraq. Photo: AFP

Meanwhile Tehran’s city hall has ordered the closure of snack shops and water fountains in metro stations, officials said Sunday.

Gholamreza Mohammadi, the public relations head of Tehran municipality, said buses and underground trains were being disinfected.

Posters were also being put up across the sprawling city on Sunday, asking people not to shake hands as part of a coronavirus prevention campaign.

The WHO has also expressed concern over the speed at which Covid-19 was being exported from Iran to other countries, including Lebanon, which confirmed its first case on Friday, a 45-year-old woman returning from Qom, Iran.

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The United Arab Emirates announced two new cases on Saturday, an Iranian tourist and his wife, raising the total in that country to 13.

Iraq and Pakistan, which share borders with Iran, have taken preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus from Iranian travellers. Infected travellers from Iran already have been discovered also in Canada.

An Iranian voter wears a mask and shows his ID during parliamentary elections at the Shah Abdul Azim shrine on the southern outskirts of Tehran. Photo: AFP

Saudi Arabia has ordered anyone travelling from Iran to wait at least 14 days before entering the kingdom as it seeks to prevent the spread of the virus to the Muslim pilgrimage sites of Mecca and Medina.

WHO officials have said that China’s crackdown on parts of the country bought time for the rest of the world to prepare for the new virus. But as hotspots emerge around the globe, including in South Korea and Iran, there has been trouble finding the first patient who sparked each new cluster.

Iranians have been snapping up surgical face masks in a bid to avoid catching the virus.

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Online retailer Digikala – Iran’s equivalent of Amazon – said on Friday that it had sold 75,000 masks within 36 hours.

It said it was not claiming a commission on its mask sales, amid concerns that demand was causing prices to skyrocket on the black market.

“We stand against the unusual price increase,” Digikala tweeted.

“We stand alongside our dear suppliers and by providing fresh supplies, we hope we can meet a part of the country’s demand.”

Iran has yet to confirm the origin of the outbreak, but one official speculated that it was brought in by Chinese workers.

“The coronavirus epidemic has started in the country,” state news agency IRNA quoted the health ministry’s Minoo Mohraz as saying.

“Since those infected in Qom had no contact with the Chinese … the source is probably Chinese workers who work in Qom and have travelled to China,” she added.

But the official did not provide any evidence to support her claim, and it has not been reported elsewhere in Iranian media.

All of those who lost their lives are believed to be Iranian citizens.

Agence France-Presse, Associated Press

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Rapid escalation in cases rocks Iran
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