Iranian top official dies of coronavirus

66 people have died from coronavirus in Iran and over 1,500 have been infected.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Members of the medical team spray disinfectant to sanitize indoor place of Imam Reza's holy shrine, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Mashhad, Iran February 27, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Members of the medical team spray disinfectant to sanitize indoor place of Imam Reza's holy shrine, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Mashhad, Iran February 27, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Seyed Mohammad Mir-Mohammadi, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, a body that advises Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died on Monday from coronavirus, Sputnik News reported.
Some 66 people have died from coronavirus and over 1,500 have been infected in Iran as of Monday morning, Reuters reported.
Several high-ranking officials, including a vice minister, deputy health minister and five lawmakers, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"The definite latest numbers we have are 523 new infections and 12 new deaths so the total number of those infected until now is 1501 and the number of deaths is 66," said Iran's Deputy Health Minister, Alireza Raisi.
One lawmaker, elected in Iran's February 21 polls, has died of the coronavirus, Iranian media reported last week.
Iran's Health Minister Saeed Namaki warned on Friday of "a very difficult week" ahead in the country, which only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on February 19 and where the death rate among confirmed cases has been around 10%, compared to around 3% elsewhere.
Saudi Arabia is now the only Arab Gulf state not to have reported any cases of the coronavirus, which has infected about 80,000 people and killed more than 2,800, mostly in China.