Iran said Tuesday that the new coronavirus killed 54 more people, raising the death toll to 291 amid 8,042 cases in the Islamic Republic, EDNews reports citing TRT News.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour made the announcement in a televised news conference. It represented an 18 percent increase in deaths from the day before and 12 percent more confirmed cases.
Iran is the hardest-hit country in the Mideast by the new coronavirus, which sickens but largely doesn’t kill those afflicted.
Meanwhile, Italy imposed unprecedented national restrictions on its 60 million people on Tuesday to control the deadly coronavirus, as China signalled major progress in its own battle against the global epidemic.
The outbreak, combined with a crash in oil prices, has caused carnage on financial markets, erasing billions of dollars globally.
The World Health Organization warned there is a "very real" threat of a pandemic, but its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the planet was "not at the mercy" of an illness that has killed more than 4,000 people so far.
China showcased growing confidence that it has brought its own outbreak under control, with President Xi Jinping on Tuesday paying his first visit to the epicentre of the crisis – Wuhan.
Xi's unannounced trip comes as unprecedented quarantine measures that have sealed off Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province since late January appear to have paid off, with reported new infections dropping dramatically in recent weeks.
Chinese authorities announced just 17 deaths on Tuesday and the lowest number of new infections – 19 – since reporting began in late January.
While Hubei's 56 million people remain under quarantine, China is slowly easing restrictions in other parts of the country, with people returning to work and some schools reopening.
China's apparent progress stands in stark contrast to the rapid rise around the world, particularly in Italy, where more than 9,000 cases and 463 deaths have been reported.
In a desperate bid to stem the spread, Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte went on television to announce the entire country would effectively be placed on lockdown from Tuesday.
"I am going to sign a decree that can be summarised as follows: I stay at home," Conte said.
"Travel must be avoided across the entire peninsula unless it is justified by professional reasons, by cases of need or for health reasons," he told Italians.
British Airways also cancelled all flights to and from Italy on Tuesday after the country was put on lockdown until next month to tackle coronavirus, it said.
"In light of the Italian government's announcement and the UK government's official travel advice, we have contacted all customers who are due to travel today (10 March)," the airline, owned by IAG, said.
