Virus forces closure of Mashhad Iranians urged to stay at home

TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday urged its citizens to stick to guidelines and stay at home to stop the new coronavirus spreading, as it announced another 113 deaths from the outbreak.

The latest death toll announced by the health ministry took to 724 the official number of people to have been killed by the disease since last month. People "should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days," ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.

Jahanpour also reported 1,209 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total to 13,938. "The good news is that more than 4,590 of the overall confirmed cases have recovered" and the patients have been discharged from hospitals, he added.

Tehran province had the highest number of new infections with 251 fresh cases. Khorasan Razavi province. "The cases there will probably increase," the official said, calling on everyone to cease from travelling to the northeastern province.

The outbreak in Iran is one of the deadliest outside of China, where the disease originated. Jahanpour called on Iranians to "take the coronavirus seriously" and especially be mindful of elderly relatives who are most vulnerable to the infection.

Meanwhile, the tomb of Imam Reza in Iran’s holy city of Mashhad has been closed to pilgrims until further notice in line with measures to stop the new coronavirus, a spokesman said on Sunday.

"Currently, the porches of the mausoleum and generally all the covered spaces of the holy shrine are closed," the spokesman for the shrine told AFP. He added that group prayers had been cancelled "except in open spaces and courtyards of the mausoleum where there are few pilgrims these days."

Mashhad’s Imam Reza shrine receives many devout Iranians every year, especially around the Persian new year holiday of Nowrouz, which starts this year on March 20. The shrine announced on Wednesday that New Year ceremonies at the complex would be cancelled in accordance with "strict directives from health authorities prohibiting gatherings."

"In the absence of pilgrims this year, the New Year’s ceremonies will be broadcast on television and radio," the spokesman said. It said the same would apply to "other religious celebrations" at the shrine which had been scheduled for the first days of the new year.

Iran said Sunday that its COVID-19 outbreak has now killed 724 people among 13,938 cases of infection. More than 560 of the infections have been confirmed in Khorasan Razavi province, where Mashhad is located.

The province had already closed hotels and other tourist accommodation in a bid to dissuade people from travelling there, according to semi-official news agency ISNA. Mashhad’s mayor Mohammad Kalaei said on Instagram on Saturday that "circumstances in Mashhad have become more serious and worrying" as infections grew.