Iran announces death of 77 people with coronavirus

Iran yesterday announced the death of 11 people from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of fatalities from the disease to 77 cases.

Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi told reporters that 835 new cases were diagnosed, noting that a total of 2,336 people are now infected with coronavirus in the Islamic Republic.

He pointed out that 8,532 people visited hospitals on suspicion of contracting the virus while samples were taken from 5,737 of them.

As many as 435 people have recovered after contracting the virus across the country, he added.

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The country has, however, been suspected and accused of concealing the true number of those infected and dead, with some reporting over 10,000 infections and at least 210 deaths.

As a result of the rise in the number of cases, the Iranian judiciary yesterday announced it has allowed 54,000 prisoners to serve part of their sentences at home in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in overcrowded prisons.

Italy and Iran have the highest death toll related to the coronavirus virus outside of China, the epicentre of the disease.