Iran deputy health minister contracts coronavirus, vows decisive fight

Young journalists club

News ID: 45285
Iran » Iran
Publish Date: 20:06 - 25 February 2020
Tehran 25 February _Speaking from the quarantine, Iran’s vice health minister announces that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but expresses certitude that the country will overpower the epidemic over the upcoming weeks.

Iran deputy health minister contracts coronavirus, vows decisive fightTEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)-“I contracted coronavirus, too,” Iraj Harirchi said in a video that surfaced on Tuesday.

He stated that he had entered “isolation” and started treatment, but said his general health condition was favorable, and that he was currently just experiencing fever and fatigue.

Harirchi, meanwhile, said he was certain that the country would come out victorious in the face of the outbreak “in the next couple of weeks,” saying he was giving the assurance “wholeheartedly” as the country had the “effective treatment” at its disposal.

The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It may also worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal.

According to the World Health Organization, the epidemic has killed more than 2,600 people and infected more than 77,000 others in China. But the situation has worsened elsewhere with nearly 2,700 other cases and more than 40 deaths globally.

In Iran, the virus showed up in the north-central city of Qom, where it has claimed its most victims. In all, the spread has taken 15 lives across the country and infected as many as 95 others.

Most recently, Majlis (Parliament) member Mahmoud Sadeghi announced in a tweet that he too had been infected with the virus.

Also on Tuesday, however, the head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali announced that the outbreak “has relatively been contained across the country.”

He said the achievement was made thanks to the “national will and the coordination that has transpired on the highest managerial levels in the country.”

Containment of the virus, he added, means that “we will witness a fall in the number of those infected in the upcoming weeks, and a downward trend in the trajectory of affliction.”

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