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Coronavirus: Iran reports over 1,000 new cases, death roll rises to 145
- The new cases bring the country’s total number of infections to 5,823
- More than 16,000 people are hospitalised as suspect cases, a health ministry spokesman says
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Iran on Saturday reported 21 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1,076 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tolls to 145 dead and 5,823 infected.
“More than 16,000 people are currently hospitalised as suspect cases,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference as he announced the tolls.
He added that 1,669 of confirmed cases have recovered from the illness.
A lawmaker was among those reported dead on Saturday, state news agency IRNA said.
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Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, was a conservative MP and had recently been elected to the parliament from the capital Tehran, the agency said.
She is the second lawmaker killed by the virus in Iran and one of seven politicians and government officials who have died in the outbreak since the country reported its first cases in mid-February.
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Rahbar was among the top candidates in Tehran for the conservatives, who overwhelmingly won February’s general election marked by the lowest turnout in the Islamic republic’s history.
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