Iran’s deputy health minister infected with coronavirus as the spread worsens
The Deputy Prime Minister had initially reassured the Iranians and assured that the situation is under control. Now he himself is a victim.
Iran’s deputy health minister is infected with the coronavirus. The information was confirmed in video footage broadcast on state-run Iranian television.
The deputy Health Minister, one Iraj Harirchi is now in quarantine, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health said.
“The coronavirus test for Mr. Harirchi, the deputy health minister who was on the front lines combating the coronavirus, was positive,” Alireza Vahabzadeh, a media adviser to the health minister, said in a tweet.
In the past few days, Harirchi has been working hard, trying to give hope to the people and ensuring that the authorities put the situation under control. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
– I’ve had a fever since yesterday
On Monday, he attended a press conference where he coughed and seemed sweaty.
Video from the press conference shows how he repeatedly wiped sweated from his forehead. Eventually, he had to remove his glasses to properly remove sweat from virtually his entire head.
“I too have been infected with coronavirus,” Harirchi said in a video apparently shot by himself, posted Tuesday.
“I had a fever as of last night and my preliminary test was positive around midnight,” he said.
“I’ve isolated myself in a place since. A few minutes ago, I was told that my final test was final, and now I am starting the medication.
“I wanted to tell you that… we will definitely be victorious against this virus in the next few weeks,” Harirchi declared.
The deputy minister has also warned Iranians to be very careful as the “virus does not discriminate” and infects anyone, regardless of standing.
An Iranian parliamentarian, the M.P for Tehran, Mahmoud Sadeghi, has also revealed that he had tested positive for the virus in a post on Twitter.
“My corona test is positive… I don’t have a lot of hope of continuing life in this world,” he wrote.
34 new cases of infection in Iran
A total of 15 people have died from the disease Covid-19 in Iran. It is the highest death rate outside of China.
Today, Iran reported 34 new cases of infection. Almost half of them are in the holy city of Qom.
In total, 95 are confirmed infected in Iran. Iranian authorities say there are about 900 suspected cases in the country that need to be tested.
Although Qom is considered the epicenter of coronavirus in the country, no quarantine has been introduced in the city so far.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki on Tuesday described it as “an old-fashioned method” to quarantine cities.
“We still do not agree with quarantining cities since we believe the people are cultured enough to refrain from traveling from infected cities to other places,” he said, in defense of his decision, as he was quoted by the ISNA news agency.