Person in Iranian clerical assembly dies from virus
A 78-year-old member of the Iranian clerical body that chooses the country's supreme leader has died from the condition caused by the new coronavirus, news agencies reported Monday. He was the most recent of several senior Iranian officials to have been infected in the worsening outbreak.
The outbreak has infected practically 14,000 persons in Iran and killed a lot more than 700, with the toll jumping by greater than a hundred in the last 24 hours. The real numbers could be even higher, as some have questioned the government's reporting.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as for example fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it could cause more extreme illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of folks recover from the brand new virus. Those with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
The semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei, a low-profile, moderate person in the Assembly of Experts, died from the COVID-19 illness.
The clerical assembly gets the authority to appoint or remove the supreme leader, who gets the final say on all major policies.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who's 80 years old and has been in power since 1989, wore disposable gloves at a recently available public event, apparently as a precaution.
Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials have been infected, compounding fears about Iran's response to the global pandemic, which has infected practically 170,000 people worldwide and killed a lot more than 6,500.
A lot more than 77,000 people have recovered.
The official leading Iran's response to the virus on Sunday expressed concerns that health facilities could possibly be overwhelmed if the rate of new cases continues to climb.
"If the trend continues, there will never be enough capacity," Ali Reza Zali, who's leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.
Iran is thought to have around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in the administrative centre, Tehran. Authorities have pledged to create mobile clinics as needed.
Despite the mounting toll, many Iranians are shrugging off concerns about the virus. The streets of Tehran were bustling on Sunday, with many people out shopping in stores with little proof panic-buying.
