Despite almost 2000 deaths due to Coronavirus, Iran backs itself & shuns foreign help

A senior Iranian official Tuesday ruled out "foreign" help on ground to deal with coronavirus epidemic after an offer from a France-based medical charity, as country's death toll from illness neared 2,000.

"Due to Iran's national mobilisation against virus and full use of medical capacity of armed forces, it is t necessary for w for hospital beds to be set up by foreign forces, and ir presence is ruled out," Alireza Vahabzeh, visor to Iran's health minister, said on Twitter.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) h said Sunday that it planned to send a nine-member team and equipment to set up a 50-bed hospital, stirring opposition from ultra-conservative circles in Islamic republic who charged that MSF staff would serve as "spies".

Health ministry spokesman Kiaush Jahanpour earlier said a record 1,762 new cases have been confirmed in Iran over past 24 hours and 24,811 people are w kwn to have been infected with new coronavirus.

He anunced 122 new deaths from virus, raising official toll to 1,934 in one of world's worst hit countries.

Iran has fourth highest official death toll from coronavirus after Italy, China and Spain but, unlike those countries, it has yet to impose any lockdown on its citizens.

On contrary, country is in midst of two-week Persian New Year holiday when country's ros fill with people visiting family.

Despite authorities' appeals for people to stay home and closure of shopping and leisure centres, many people have taken to ros as usual this year.

Jahanpour, however, anunced that when government offices reopen on Tuesday, many civil servants will be working from home.

"Only around a third of government staff are authorised to work in office and only for ministrative tasks vital to public," he said, ding that all offices would practise "social distancing".

country's supreme leer Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to follow state instructions "so that Almighty God will put an end to this calamity for Iranian people, for all Muslim nations and for all mankind".

On Tuesday, UN rights chief called for any sanctions imposed on countries like Iran facing new coronavirus pandemic to be "urgently re-evaluated" to avoid pushing strained medical systems into collapse.

Iran has been under crippling US sanctions in connection with its nuclear programme.

"At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support rights and lives of millions of people in se countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended," Michelle Bachelet said.

Even before pandemic, she pointed out that human rights reports h repeatedly emphasised impact of sectorial sanctions on access to essential medicines and medical equipment in Iran, including respirators and protective gear for healthcare workers.

Bachelet's office stressed that more than 50 Iranian medics h died since first COVID-19 case was detected in country five weeks ago.

ding to Iran's woes, floods caused by heavy rainfall since Sunday, mainly in western provinces, have killed at least 12 people and left two ors missing, a spokesman for Iran's rescue services told AFP.

Mojtaba Khaledi said that warnings have been issued of more heavy rains for later this week in western Iran.