Another Iranian MP Fatemeh Rahbar dies due to coronavirus: Reports

Iranian MP Fatemeh Rahbar died due to the novel coronavirus after contradicting reports about her health condition emerged on March 6. Iran’s semi-official news agency confirmed the death of the Iranian lawmaker following the reports of her critical health condition.  

Rahbar’s demise is the second death of an Iranian lawmaker due to COVID-19 after another MP, Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak, died on February 29 after being taken to hospital. Several other government officials, including two Iranian vice presidents and two advisors to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have also been infected with the deadly virus.

Iran has reported the most number of deaths after China with the death toll rising to 145 on March 7. Several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, have put a travel ban on Tehran after they confirmed coronavirus cases in their country linked to Iran. 

Read: Iran Reports 21 New Coronavirus Deaths, Raising Total To 145

'Monitoring medical supplies'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that they are continuing to recommend that all countries make containment their highest priority. Speaking at a daily media briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that they are encouraged by accelerated research as part of the response. WHO has received applications for 40 diagnostic tests, 20 vaccines are in development and many clinical trials of therapeutics are underway.

“Even as we test therapeutics, we need to ensure that supplies of those medicines are available should they prove effective. WHO has been monitoring the potential risk of a disruption to medicines supplies as a result of the COVID19 epidemic,” said Ghebreyesus.

Read: MEA Says Iran Embassy Provided No Notification Of 'untraceable' 496 Tourists In India

Coronavirus epidemic has become a major concern around the world as the more than 100,000 cases have been confirmed globally. The worst affected countries are China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy with around 3,500 deaths due to COVID-19. 

According to the latest report, 28 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to 3,070. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, other countries, including the United States, Iran, Italy, and South Korea, have also reported deaths related to COVID-19.

Read: COVID-19:Special Flight Services To Begin Between Iran & India To Evacuate Stranded People

Read: Donald Trump: Overall Risk To American Citizens From Coronavirus Remains Low

(With inputs from agencies)