© REUTERS / WANA NEWS AGENCY
Iran's death toll from the coronavirus hit 145 on March 7 after another 21 people were confirmed to have died during the previous day, including a conservative lawmaker.
In a televised briefing, a Health Ministry official said
the tally of confirmed infections in Iran had increased by more than 1,000 during the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 5,823 by March 7.
Fatemeh Rahbar, a newly elected lawmaker from Tehran, was among those who died on March 6, Iranian media earlier reported.
Iran is one of the countries outside China most affected by the epidemic.
The coronavirus has claimed the lives of several other Iranian officials, including an adviser to Iran's supreme leader and a former envoy to the Vatican.
A number of other officials have tested positive for the virus, including Vice President Masumeh Ebtekar, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi,
and more than 20 parliament deputies.
Iran has closed schools and universities, suspended major cultural and sporting events, and reduced working hours across the country to slow the contagion,
which has spread to all of its 31 provinces.
Comment: In the U.S. 46 passengers were
tested on a cruise ship off the Californian coast, 21 of whom tested positive (there are over 3500 people on board). Apparently there is a shortage of tests, which will delay whatever decision is made about quarantine. Fifteen American tourists in the West Bank are
under quarantine in a hotel in Bethlehem as a precaution after cases popped up in Palestine. Two attendees to the
AIPAC conference have been tested positive, raising the possibility that U.S. lawmakers may have been exposed (quite fitting, given the virus-like nature of AIPAC) - 18,000 people attended.
In Italy, Nicola Zingaretti, leader of the co-ruling Democratic Party, has
tested positive:
Italy reported the sharpest rise in the national coronavirus death toll. The authorities confirmed that 49 people died in just 24 hours bringing the total number of the deadly disease victims in Italy to 197.
A U.S. Navy soldier stationed in Italy is the
first case among American servicemen. France confirmed
100 new cases (bringing the total to 716). European tourism is
losing a billion euros a month.
Facebook
shut down their London offices after a visiting Singapore employee tested positive. Austin
cancelled the SXSW festival this year. The mayor of Agra
called on the Indian government to shut down all historical monuments, including the Taj Mahal. Modi took a page out of Netanyahu's book to
recommend people use "Namaste" instead of handshakes. Over 1200 IDF
soldiers have been quarantined.
See also:
Comment: Stephen King astutely pointed out the problem that this setting this precedent creates in a series of tweets: