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Iran

Coronavirus Iranian deaths at 853, Ayatollah Bathaei-Golpaygani dies

Source: The Jerusalem Post
March 16, 2020 at 09:01
A medical staff member in protective gear checks the temperature of a cleric man amid concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, at Najaf airport in the holy city of Najaf upon his arrival from Iran, Iraq March 15, 2020. (photo credit&#x
A medical staff member in protective gear checks the temperature of a cleric man amid concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, at Najaf airport in the holy city of Najaf upon his arrival from Iran, Iraq March 15, 2020. (photo credit&#x

The country's death toll from Covid-19 has now reached 853 in total, with 129 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry official tweeted on Monday.
Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei-Golpaygani, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, died of coronavirus on Monday morning, Iranian news outlets have reported.

Bathaei-Golpaygani was being treated for the illness in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, where he was taken on Saturday.The country's death toll from Covid-19 has now reached 853 in total, with 129 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry official tweeted on Monday, adding that a total of 14,991 people have been infected across Iran.

"In the past 24 hours we had 1,053 confirmed new cases of coronavirus and 129 new deaths," Alireza Vahabzadeh tweeted.

A number of politicians, doctors, commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guards and clerics have been infected with the virus in Iran, several of which have died. These include Nasser Shabani, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Farhad Tazari, the former head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Political Bureau, and Seyed Mohammad Mir-Mohammadi, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, a body that advises Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

To contain the outbreak in Iran, one of the deadliest outside of China, officials have called on people to stay at home.

"Based on the figures, we have past the peak of the outbreak, but I still suggest people stay at home, and in case of urgency, observe all health protocols," said President Hassan Rouhani, according to state TV.

A host of senior officials, with the virus. Several of them, including two members of a top clerical body, have died, according to state media.
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