Coronavirus outbreak: 28 infected, five die in Iran

The number of Iranian nationals infected with a new coronavirus has risen to 28 with five fatal cases, the Health Ministry says.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told state television that out of thousands of people, who had come to medical institutions until Saturday noon, 785 had been referred to treatment centers for more investigations.

"Since yesterday till now, 10 new cases have been confirmed, including eight people in the city of Qom and two in Tehran. In total, over the past days, we had 28 people definitively diagnosed with the coronavirus. Most of them are living in Qom or have travelled to the city," he said.

"One of the 10 new cases has lost his life. Overall, 5 people have died of coronavirus infection so far," he added.

Speaking on Thursday, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that the coronavirus would definitely be contained in Iran through people's vigilance and cooperation between different bodies.

"The influenza virus was contained with God's grace in the autumn, the influenza fatality rate was far higher than the coronavirus," he said.

Speaking on Saturday, Namaki advised people not to pay attention to rumors, stressing that they would be informed of the statistics.

"We have enough kits and leading experts to diagnose [coronavirus] at medical sciences universities," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Javad Javidnia, the deputy for cyberspace affairs at the public prosecutor's office, said that the body is monitoring all news regarding the coronavirus and that those spreading rumors will be dealt with.

The new coronavirus emerged in China's Wuhan in December 2019. Since then, over 76,200 people have been infected in as many as 27 countries, with more than 2,300 deaths mostly reported in the East Asian country.

It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It may also worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal.

The World Health Organization named the illness the coronavirus causes COVID-19.

MG