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HEALTH-VIRUS-IRAN
Iran warns of virus cluster spread, says 71 more dead
TEHRAN, May 14, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Iran warned of a possible coronavirus
cluster hitting another province on Thursday as it announced 71 new deaths
and more than 1,800 infections nationwide.
“We are in situation similar to previous days (in most provinces) save for
Khuzestan, which is still in a critical condition, and it seems that North
Khorasan may be critical as well,” said health ministry spokesman Kianoush
Jahanpour.
“If this trend continues, North Khorasan will require more serious
measures, too,” he added in televised remarks.
North Khorasan province lies in northeastern Iran on the border with
Turkmenistan. Khuzestan province in the southwest borders Iraq.
The ministry had on Monday signalled a setback in its efforts to contain
the virus in Khuzestan where authorities shut state bodies, banks and non-
essential businesses again in around a third of its counties.
Iran stopped publishing provincial figures for the coronavirus last month.
Authorities in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which
borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, have also warned of a fresh spike in
infections.
“We had not seen such an increase in coronavirus infections since” late
February, said Ghasem Miri, deputy head of provincial capital Zahedan’s
medical university.
The total number of people infected in the province had hit 909, of whom
821 had recovered and 59 died, Miri told ILNA news agency on Tuesday.
Miri said the jump was due to the failure of people to observe “social
distancing and health protocols”.
Iran has deemed more than 150 counties across the country as low-risk from
the virus and has allowed them to reopen mosques.
Since April 11, it has allowed a phased reopening of its economy and lifted
restrictions on intercity travel.
Iran’s deputy health minister also announced on Thursday that athletes in
29 sports — including track and field, tennis and weightlifting — could
resume training.
Iraj Harirchi also told ISNA news agency that a decision about Iran’s top
flight football league would be made on Saturday.
According to health ministry spokesman Jahanpour, the latest deaths brought
the official toll to 6,854.
He said 1,808 new cases of COVID-19 infection had been detected, raising
the total to 114,533.
Of those hospitalised, 90,539 had recovered and been discharged, while
2,758 were in critical condition.
Iran has struggled to contain its outbreak of the novel coronavirus since
announcing its first cases in the Shiite holy city of Qom on February 19.
Experts inside and outside the country have voiced scepticism about the
official figures, saying the real toll could be much higher.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1800hrs