Iran reports 54 more deaths from coronavirus, highest single-day toll

Iran on March 10 reported its highest one-day toll of 54 deaths from the novel coronavirus. According to Kianoush Jahanpour, a Health Ministry spokesman, who confirmed the report on a live televised program, the recent death toll represented an 18 per cent rise in deaths from the day before. Iran is the second most affected country outside China where at least 8,000 people have been infected by the deadly virus so far. 

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As per reports, a recently elected Member of Parliament in Iran died of the disease on March 7. Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, was a conservative MP from the capital Tehran and was one of the seven politicians to died from the virus. 23 other members of parliament in the country had tested positive for the virus. Mohammad Mirmohammadi, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was the first senior official to die from the virus on March 2.

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As per reports, there are currently 8,042 active coronavirus cases in Iran, of which 2,731 patients have recovered fully. Iran has reported 291 coronavirus deaths since the outbreak escalated globally. Iran comes only second to Italy, which has reported the most number of deaths outside mainland China.

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Coronavirus outbreak

The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has claimed more than 4,000 lives across the globe and has infected over 1,14,000 people around the world since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were being traded illegally as per reports. According to the latest reports, at least 900 people have died outside mainland China, which makes it the worst disease outbreak of the 21st century. 

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