Coronavirus death toll in Iran QUADRUPLES to 50 in just a few hours as regime is accused of ‘lying’ about the outbreak
IRAN'S coronavirus death toll has quadrupled to 50 - with the regime accused of "lying" about the extent of the outbreak.
Yesterday, health bosses claimed just 12 had died from the new virus.
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A staggering 50 people have died in the Iranian holy city of Qom from the new virus this month, a lawmaker was quoted as saying today.
The new death toll reported by the Qom representative, Ahmad Amiriabadi Farahani, is significantly higher than the latest number of nationwide confirmed cases of infections which Iranian officials had reported just a few hours earlier, which stood at 12 deaths out of 47 cases, according to state TV.
He accused Iran's health bosses of "lying" about the outbreak.
But Health Ministry spokesman Iraj Harirchi rejected the Qom lawmaker's higher statistic, insisting the death toll from the virus remains at 12.
However, he raised the number of confirmed cases from the virus to 61. Some 900 other suspected cases are being tested, he added.
I think the performance of the administration in controlling the virus has not been successful.
Qom representative, Ahmad Amiriabadi Farahani
Haririchi told the Associated Press, "no one is qualified to discuss this sort of news at all."
He explained that lawmakers elsewhere had no access to the latest coronavirus stats in Iran.
The official said he assumed they were mixing figures on deaths related to other diseases like the flu with the new virus, which first emerged in China in December.
Farahani, the lawmaker from Qom, was quoted in local media saying more than 250 people are quarantined in the city, which is a popular place of religious study for Shiites from across Iran and other countries.
He spoke following a session in parliament in Tehran on Monday, and was quoted by ILNA and other semi-official news agencies.
The lawmaker said the 50 deaths date as far back as February 13.
Iran first officially reported cases of the virus and its first deaths in Qom on February 19.
Farahani said: "I think the performance of the administration in controlling the virus has not been successful."
"None of the nurses have access to proper protective gears," Farahani said, adding that some health care specialists had left the city.
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There are concerns that clusters of the new coronavirus in Iran, as well as across parts of Italy and South Korea, could signal a serious new stage in its global spread.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "We are worried about the situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in Italy."
