Iran virus death toll crosses 24,000: Ministry

TEHRAN: Deaths in Iran from the novel coronavirus have topped 24,000, the health ministry said on Saturday, blaming reduced use of face masks by the public.

Figures “show that the use of masks is declining, and at the same time we see a rise in daily infections and hospitalisations,” ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said in televised remarks.

“Let us not forget that the current condition of the virus reflects our observance of health protocols and mask usage,” she said.

Since late February, Iran has been battling the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of COVID-19.

Infections and deaths have been on a rising trajectory this month.

Daily infections have remained above 2,000 for the past two weeks and are nearing the 3,574 high reached in early June.

In the 24 hours to Saturday, 2,845 people tested positive for the coronavirus, raising the total to 419,043, the health ministry said.

A further 166 deaths from the disease were recorded, bringing the overall toll to 24,118.

There has been scepticism at home and abroad about Iran’s official figures, amid concerns the real toll could be much higher.

Iran has made wearing masks mandatory in enclosed public spaces and repeatedly called on the public to refrain from nonessential travel.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to go after everyone who had a role in a top general’s January killing during a US drone strike in Iraq.

The guard’s website quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as saying, “Mr Trump! Our revenge for martyrdom of our great general is obvious, serious and real.”

US President Donald Trump warned this week that Washington would harshly respond to any Iranian attempts to take revenge for the death of Soleimani, tweeting that “if they hit us in any way, any form, written instructions already done we’re going to hit them 1000 times harder.”

The president’s warning came in response to a report that Iran was plotting to assassinate the US ambassador to South Africa in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing at Baghdad’s airport at the beginning of the year.

“We took out the world’s number one terrorist and the mass murderer of American troops and many, many troops and many people all over the world,” Trump said. “Qasem Soleimani is dead. He’s dead. Bad guy. Bad guy. Very bad guy.”