Iran: Coronavirus Kills 6, Over 28 Confirmed Cases Reported

Iran authorities have reported a sixth death from the new virus that emerged in China. The governor of Markazi province told the official IRNA news agency Saturday that tests of a patient who recently died in the central city of Arak was positive for the virus. Ali Aghazadeh said the person who died was suffering from a heart problem, too.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian health authorities reported a fifth death from the new coronavirus and said the fatality was among 10 new confirmed cases of the virus in Iran. So far, 28 cases have been confirmed in Iran, including at least five of the six who died. People are being treated for the virus in at least four different cities, including the capital, Tehran, where some pharmacies had already run out of masks and hand sanitizer. Other cities are Qom, Arak and Rasht.

The virus scare began in China where the death count has gone up to 2,236 with 118 more deaths reported, mostly from the hard-hit Hubei province, while the overall confirmed infection cases have climbed to 75,465.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned it is “impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take”.

International experts have arrived in Beijing and begun meeting with their Chinese counterparts over the epidemic, Tedros said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the use of digital technology such as big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to better support epidemic monitoring and analysis, virus tracing, prevention and treatment, and resource allocation.

His call came amid deployment of robots in hospitals in Wuhan treating the virus patients to supply and other materials.

China has opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact.

(With Agency Inputs)