Editor Choice

Coronavirus: Iranian Council Member Dies, As Minister Tests Positive In Italy

March 2, 2020

Tasnim news agency on Monday reported that Seyed Mohammad Mir-Mohammadi, a member of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, died of COVID-19.

His death comes as other top Iranian officials have contracted the virus.

The country has the highest death toll in the world, after China.

Seyed Mohammad Mir-Mohammadi was 71.

Also regional minister in Lombardy, the Italian region most affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak, has tested positive for the virus.

The Lombardy region said in a statement on Monday that the contagion concerns Alessandro Mattinzoli, 60, who serves as Commissioner for Economic Development.

The region said the entire 17-member Lombardy regional government would undergo testing for the novel coronavirus.

Earlier, Lombardy President, Attilio Fontana, said he would self-quarantine after a member of his staff tested positive for the virus.

Iran, along with Italy, has just recently become a new coronavirus hotbed outside of China.

The number of people infected with COVID-19 in the Islamic Republic is approaching 600.

Over 40 people have died from the coronavirus disease in Iran.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and has since spread to more than 50 countries, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a global health emergency.

So far, the virus infected more than 79,000 people in mainland China, while over 2,800 people died and nearly 40,000 have recovered.

According to the latest WHO data, the number of those infected outside China has reached 4,691, while 67 people have died.

Earlier, several Iranian officials fell ill with coronavirus as Iran has become the epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East.