Tehran/Beijing/Seoul, Mar 12

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Tehran/Beijing/Seoul, Mar 12

Iran health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced on Thursday that another 75 people had died of the new coronavirus, bringing the overall number of deaths to 429 out of more than 10,000 infections. It is the highest single-day death toll in the three weeks. Iran has has sought immediate financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund to help it combat the Covid-19 outbreak. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has cancelled his annual Nowrouz speech.

In Spain, the virus cases soared to nearly 3,000 as the number of deaths almost doubled, rising to 84. Also Spain’s Equality Minister Irene Montero has tested positive for coronavirus and has been quarantined with her partner, deputy prime minister and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, a government statement said. South Korea reported fewer than 120 new coronavirus cases. “This could lead to a super spread in the metropolitan area, where half of the entire population are concentrated,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on Thursday. The total cases in the country have risen to 7,869 and the death toll stands at 66.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation said Iran was “doing its best” to combat the virus. “We are trying to mobilise more support for Iran,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Contrarily, in China the virus cases continue to drop sharply which has reported 11 new fatalities, taking the death toll to 3,169, while in the worst-hit Wuhan, the confirmed cases for the first time dropped to single digit with eight new infections.

China’s National Health Commission said it received reports of 15 new virus cases. China said the peak of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country was over. New cases keep declining and the overall epidemic situation remains at a low level, Xinhua quoted Mi Feng, an NHC spokesperson, as saying at a press conference.

However, there is a surge in total number of “imported Covid-19 cases” (people arriving from abroad) which rose to 85 on Wednesday. As of Wednesday, a total of 80,793 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 had been reported on the mainland. — Agencies