Coronavirus: Iran's Deputy Health Minister Tests Positive As Outbreak Worsens

Iran's deputy health minister has tested positive for coronavirus amid a rapidly worsening outbreak in the Islamic republic today.

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Iraj Harirchi was taken into quarantine just a day after sweating heavily at a press conference where he insisted that the outbreak was not as bad as feared.

The virus's spread into the health ministry is the latest sign of Tehran's faltering efforts to contain the outbreak.

The regime has refused to seal off the holy city of Qom at the centre of the crisis even as pilgrims spread the virus around the Middle East and Iranians face shortages of masks and testing kits.

Iran has officially declared 95 cases and 16 deaths, but there are fears the true total could be higher. Globally, 2 per cent of cases result in death - but Iran's figures show a suspiciously high fatality rate of 15 per cent.

Harirchi appeared unsteady on his feet, sipped from a glass of water, and mopped his brow repeatedly while standing just feet away from Ali Rabiei (right), the minister in charge of preventing the spread of coronavirus
Adjusted in line with global trends, 15 deaths would suggest around 750 infections. ​

Further fears were raised about the state of Iran's outbreak after a lawmaker suggested on Monday that 50 people may have died from the illness in the city of Qom alone.

If true, that would suggest thousands of infections just in the one location. No evidence has so far been supplied to substantiate the claims.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iran's leaders on Tuesday to 'tell the truth' about the virus and cooperate with heath authorities.

Meanwhile the head of the World Health Organisation's China mission warned on Tuesday that the world is 'simply not ready' to rein in the coronavirus outbreak, urging leaders to following Beijing's example.

'You have to be ready to manage this at a larger scale... and it has to be done fast,' Bruce Aylward told reporters in Geneva, insisting countries everywhere have to 'be ready as if this hits us tomorrow.'

Qom, where the virus is believed to have arrived in Iran from China, is a major destination for Shi'ite pilgrims from around the Middle East.

Around 20million pilgrims visit the city every year, and Iran would find it difficult to shut its porous borders with neighbours including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A series of Middle East governments have imposed travel bans after the virus spread across the region while Turkey today ordered a jet to be diverted on its way from Tehran to Istanbul.

But despite the growing crisis, Iran has rejected calls to lock down Qom - saying today that people were 'cultured enough' to avoid spreading the virus elsewhere.

Iranians had been facing shortages of medical supplies even before the new coronavirus broke out in Qom.

Three women and a police officer wear masks in Tehran on Sunday to guard against the coronavirus in Iran, which now has the worst outbreak in the Middle East


Iranian municipality workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against COVID-19 at a wagon of Tehran's public subway


An Iranian woman wears a protective mask to prevent contracting coronavirus, as she is seen at a drug store in Tehran
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The medical shortages kicked in after Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran in 2018.

Since then, panic has broken out over a lack of face masks, with health experts still unsure exactly how the virus spreads.

Health workers also face a lack of testing kits, meaning that coronavirus cases could go unnoticed for days - allowing the outbreak to spread further.

There are also claims that pharmacies are facing shortages of hand-sanitising gels which could help to contain the outbreak in Qom and around the country.

Washington had exempted humanitarian goods including medicines and medical equipment from its punitive measures.

But purchases of such supplies are hindered by banks being wary of conducting any business with Iran, for fear of falling foul of sanctions themselves.

Qom lawmaker Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani told a session of parliament in Tehran yesterday that 50 people had died in the holy city.

'I think the performance of the administration in controlling the virus has not been successful,' he said, in the most public rebuke of the Iranian regime to date.

Farahani said the 50 deaths in Qom date back to February 13, whereas Iran first officially reported cases of the virus on February 19.

He also claimed that 250 people had been quarantined in the city, which is around 75 miles south of Tehran.

'None of the nurses have access to proper protective gears,' Farahani said, adding that some health care specialists had left the city.

'So far, I have not seen any particular action to confront corona by the administration.'

Health minister Harirchi rejected the Qom lawmaker's claims, insisting the death toll from the virus remains at 12.

'No one is qualified to discuss this sort of news at all,' Haririchi said, adding that lawmakers have no access to coronavirus statistics.

However, Farahani's announcement sparked claims that Iran was covering up the full scale of the crisis.

An Iranian man wears a protective masks to prevent contracting coronavirus, as he sits in the bus in Tehran
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Iran faced anger from its own citizens over an attempted cover-up just last month, after claiming falsely that a passenger jet with dozens of Iranians on board had crashed by accident.

The plane was actually shot down by Iranian Revolutionary Guards at the height of Tehran's stand-off with Washington after the death of Qassem Soleimani.

The coronavirus outbreak has sparked renewed criticism of the regime by Iranian social media users in recent days.

'Widespread public mistrust regarding the official figures is more dangerous than the coronavirus,' journalist Siavash Fallahpour said.

Harirchi's denials lost further credibility today when he himself came down with the virus.

The minister said he had quarantined himself at his home and promised that authorities would bring the virus under control.

Harirchi had looked visibly uncomfortable and wiped his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief during yesterday's press conference.

Iran's health minister Saeed Namaki has defended Iran's handling of the outbreak, saying it was being 'transparent' despite the contradictory figures.

Namaki told state TV that officials were nearly certain the virus came from China to Qom in central Iran.

He also said that among those who died from the virus was a merchant who regularly shuttled between the two countries using indirect flights in recent weeks.

However, he did not say whether the regime had taken any steps to quarantine people who had come into contact with the merchant.

Namaki today defended the decision not to lock down the city of Qom, saying that quarantine is an 'old method'.

'We still do not agree with quarantining cities since we believe the people are cultured enough to refrain from travelling from infected cities to other places,' semi-official news agency ISNA quoted him as saying.

Bahram Sarmast, the governor of Qom, said last night that quarantining the city would not be an 'appropriate solution' despite the outbreak.

Health minister Namaik offered only a token warning, saying that 'we do not recommend trips to Qom or any other holy Shi'ite cities'.

The regime has also refused to say whether health workers in the city have quarantined themselves.

Deputy health minister Harirchi told the news conference yesterday that if the number of dead in Qom were even one quarter of 50, he would resign.

But even if the regime's figures were accurate, the Iranian death rate would be higher than in any other country with more than a handful of cases, including China.

The World Health Organization said last week that the virus has proved fatal in around two per cent of infected cases.

But according to the Iranian regime's own figures, 15 out of 95 virus patients have died - a death rate of more than 15 per cent.

The health ministry said 16 of today's new cases were confirmed in Qom, while nine were in Tehran, and two each in Alborz, Gilan and Mazandaran.

Women in Tehran wear masks to guard against the coronavirus, which is believed to have entered Iran from China where the outbreak began
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Several of Iran's neighbours have shut their borders after countries including Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE pointed the finger at Iran for their own virus outbreaks.

Today a Turkish Airlines jet from Tehran to Istanbul made an unplanned landing in Ankara after 17 passengers on board were suspected of having coronavirus.

Turkey's health minister Fahrettin Koca said the Turks on board were being repatriated due to the outbreak in Iran.

Kuwait has reported eight cases of coronavirus, including patients who had recently flown from the Iranian city of Mashhad.

The Iranian regime has yet to admit any virus cases in Mashhad, raising further doubts about its claims.

Kuwait has already sealed off its transport links with Iran and was preparing to evacuate its citizens from the country.

Around a third of Kuwait's 1.4 million citizens are Shiites, who travel regularly to Iran to visit religious shrines, while Kuwait also hosts roughly 50,000 Iranian workers.

Bahrain announced its first case of the virus, saying a school bus driver had been infected after travelling from Iran via Dubai.

World Health Organisation warns coronavirus has 'pandemic potential'

The bus driver had transported students as recently as Sunday.

The tally has since risen to eight patients, all of whom have made the same journey from Iran via the UAE - with flights from Dubai and Sharjah to Bahrain now suspended.

Shortly after, the Bahraini authorities said citizens were banned from travelling to Iran 'until further notice'.

More than half of Bahrain's population of under one million are Shiites, who also travel frequently to Iran.

All flights from the UAE to Iran have also been suspended for at least a week with 13 cases now confirmed in the Emirates.

'All passenger and cargo aircraft traveling to and from Iran will be suspended for a period of one week, and could be up for extension,' officials said.

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, said that 'all passengers arriving on direct flights from Tehran will receive thermal screening at the airport.'

The latest cases in the UAE were a 70-year-old Iranian man, whose condition is unstable, and his 64-year-old wife.

On Monday, Abu Dhabi authorities called on all UAE citizens 'to not travel to Iran and Thailand at present and up until further notice' as part of its efforts to monitor and contain the disease.

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