Iran denies covering up the true scale of outbreak as virus spreads

THE Iranian government has insisted it is not covering up the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak in the country after an MP claimed the death toll from the disease was five times higher than official figures.

Neighbouring Middle Eastern states have since shut land borders and cancelled flights to the Islamic republic.

Iran’s health ministry said there were 64 confirmed cases of the virus with 12 deaths, but Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, an MP from Qom, said the government was “lying” and that there were 50 deaths in his city alone.

The World Health Organisation has estimated the coronavirus has an estimated 2pc fatality rate, meaning the total number of infected people in Iran could be about 2,500.

Many Iranian citizens are already deeply suspicious of the government after it lied for several days about accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian airliner last month.

Mr Farahani’s claim was reported by the semi-official ILNA news agency. Iraj Harirchi, the deputy health minister, said he “categorically” denied the claim of 50 deaths in Qom. “This is not the time for political confrontations. The coronavirus is a national problem,” he said.

By yesterday afternoon, there were confirmed cases of coronavirus in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Afghanistan.

In each case, the infected person had recently travelled to Iran.

Turkey, Pakistan and Armenia have all closed their land borders with Iran, while Iraq is only allowing Iraqi citizens to cross. Flights to and from Iran have been cancelled in Tajikistan and Oman, while Turkish Airlines has cancelled most flights.

Meanwhile, China decided to postpone its annual parliament session for the first time since the 1990s yesterday as the country continues to battle the coronavirus outbreak.

The National People’s Congress, China’s parliamentary body, meets annually for around 10 days to set key policies for the coming year, and was supposed to begin on March 5.

But most top officials are now focused on containing the spread of the virus, which has now reached every province of the country. In a sign of the unpredictable nature of the crisis, no new date has been fixed for the session to begin.

The postponement of the meeting could hamper measures by President Xi Jinping’s government to mitigate the economic impact of the epidemic. China yesterday also declared an immediate and “comprehensive” ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed to be at the root of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Outside of China, South Korea has suffered the highest number of infections, ballooning to more than 830, with eight deaths. More than half of the cases are linked to Shincheonji, a controversial ultrareligious group in Daegu, the fourth largest city.

Thirteen military personnel have been diagnosed with the disease, prompting the lockdown of their barracks, and a US Forces family member, with access to the American military base in Daegu, has also tested positive.

At least half a dozen countries have banned the entry of visitors travelling from South Korea.