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Iran's Coronavirus Death Toll Reaches 8; Authorities Closing Schools,
Theaters

RFE/RL

   Iranian authorities reported two more deaths from the deadly
   coronavirus, bringing the country's death toll to eight-- the highest
   such toll outside the disease's epicenter in China.

   Speaking Sunday on state TV, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur
   said a total of 15 new confirmed cases had been reported across the
   country, bringing the overall figure to 43.

   Jahanpur gave no details on the new deaths, including when they
   occurred. But Iranian media earlier cited Abbas Musavi, the head of the
   Medical Science University in the northern province of Mazandaran, as
   saying that an unnamed person who had traveled from the capital,
   Tehran, to the regional capital of Tonekabon had died.

   Iran has reported more fatalities from coronavirus, officially known as
   COVID-19, than any other country aside from China. In all, there are
   785 suspected cases across Iran, the Health Ministry reported on
   February 22-- a number that is likely to grow.

   Jahanpour earlier was quoted by the dpa news agency as saying that of
   the newly detected cases, two were in Tehran, and eight were in the
   city of Qom, 120 kilometers south of Tehran.

   Authorities have steadily imposed more restrictions on public spaces
   and travel in an effort to curtail the disease's spread.

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