Publish Date: 27 February 2020 - 14:13

TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (MNA) – According to a senior official in Iran’s health ministry on Wednesday, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, in Iran rose to 26 with 245 confirmed cases.

Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced that from among 245 announced cases, 106 ones are the most recently confirmed ones, of which 38 ones are in Tehran, 23 from Gilan, 7 in Qom, one in Hamedan, 8 in Isfahan, 7 in Mazandaran, 5 in Ardabil, 3 in Alborz, one in Razavi Khorasan, 3 in Semnan, 3 in Lorestan, one in Kordestan, one in Yazd, one in West Azarbaijan, and 2 in East Azarbaijan.

According to the latest reports, coronavirus has caused 2,800 deaths, while 80,000 people have been diagnosed with the illness across the globe, by the present time.

The coronavirus is spreading in the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world, as Brazil confirmed its first case in Latin America, while parts of China begin to lower their emergency response level as the number of new cases reported there continues to slow.

More deaths have been reported in Iran and Italy.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement, also imposed restrictions on pilgrims who visit the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah before or after the completion of their religious duties in Makkah.

China has been allowing healthy non-residents of Wuhan to leave the epicenter of the virus from Monday. A city in China's Hubei province, the epicentre of the global coronavirus epidemic, will pay residents as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,425.96) if they proactively report symptoms of the illness and it is confirmed after testing.

The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.

MNA/IRN