Iran's deputy health minister tests positive for coronavirus after looking unwell during press conference

Katy Clifton25 February 2020

Iran's deputy health minister, who is leading the country's counter-coronavirus task force, has tested positive for the virus.

Iraj Harirchi tested postive just one day after giving a news conference in Tehran about the virus, during which he had been sweating and looking uncomfortable.

On Tuesday, Mr Harirchi admitted he has tested positive, and said that he has quarantined himself at his home.

Mr Harirchi, who denied covering up the scale of Iran's outbreak, promised that authorities would bring the virus under control.

Iraj Harirchi during a press conference on Monday
Sky News

There have been 95 cases of the virus and 16 deaths reported by the government, but the actual number is thought to be higher.

The country is one of the three hotspots outside China causing fears that the virus could become a pandemic.

The deputy health minister falling ill with the virus is just the latest woe to befall Iran as the UAE cut off Iranian flights from the country.

The UAE, home to long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, remains a key international transit route for Iran’s 80 million people.

Iran's deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi (left) and the Islamic republic's government spokesman Ali Rabie
Iranian Presidency/AFP via Getty

The flight ban, which will last at least a week, shows the growing concern over the spread of the virus in Iran amid worries the outbreak may be larger than what authorities there now acknowledge.

The Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority made the announcement via the country’s state-run WAM news agency, just hours after Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, said there would be restrictions on flights there.

An Iranian woman wears a protective mask to prevent contracting coronavirus
VIA REUTERS

“All passenger and cargo aircraft travelling to and from Iran will be suspended for a period of one week, and could be up for extension,” the authority said.

“The decision is a precautionary measure undertaken by the UAE to ensure strict monitoring and prevention of the spread of the new coronavirus.”

Iraj Harirchi and Ali Rabiei at at press conference on Monday
AP

Emirates, the government-owned carrier based in Dubai, flies daily to Tehran. Its low-cost sister airline, FlyDubai, flies to multiple Iranian cities, as does the Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people globally, causing around 2,700 deaths, mainly in China. The World Health Organisation has named the illness Covid-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.

Iran’s government said Tuesday that 15 people had died nationwide from the new coronavirus, rejecting claims of a much higher death toll of 50 by a politician from the city of Qom which has been at the epicentre of the virus in the country.

The conflicting reports raised questions about the Iranian government’s transparency concerning the scale of the outbreak.

The new death toll came from health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour during an interview with Iranian state television. He said there were 95 confirmed cases of the virus in Iran, with many linked to Qom, a major Shia religious centre where other cases have emerged.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani sought to reassure the nation in a speech on Tuesday, calling the new coronavirus an “uninvited and inauspicious passenger”.

But he declared: “We will get through corona. We will get through the virus.”

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