TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian health authorities on Saturday reported a fifth death from the new virus that emerged in China, and said the fatality was from among 10 new confirmed cases of the virus in Iran.
So far, 28 cases have been confirmed in Iran, including the five who died.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour made the announcement on state TV, but did not specify when the death occurred. Two people had died earlier Friday from COVID-19, the illness caused by virus. Authorities reported two deaths previously this week.
The deaths came as Iranians voted in nationwide parliamentary elections Friday. Many voters went to the polls wearing face masks, and some pharmacies ran out of masks and hand sanitizer amid the election-day rush.
Jahanpour said that of the 10 newly detected cases, two were in the capital of Tehran and eight were in the city of Qom. That’s where the first two elderly patients died on Wednesday. He said the two patients in the capital had visited Qom or had links with the city.
Minoo Mohraz, an Iranian health ministry official, had said Friday that the virus “possibly came from Chinese workers who work in Qom and traveled to China.” She did not elaborate. A Chinese company has been building a solar power plant in Qom.
Qom is a popular religious destination and a center of learning and religious studies for Shiite Muslims from inside Iran, as well as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and Azerbaijan.
Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia announced that citizens and residents of the kingdom are not permitted to travel to Iran following the spread of the virus there. Anyone previously in Iran will only be permitted entry to the country after the 14-day incubation period of the virus has passed.
The decision, while not specifically mentioning Iranian nationals, directly impacts thousands of Iranians who travel to Mecca and Medina for Islamic pilgrimages, effectively barring them from entry to Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has already barred its citizens and residents from travel to China.
/atm