Iranian VP for women, family affairs diagnosed with coronavirus: reports

TEHRAN: Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, has been diagnosed with coronavirus, mere hours after the country reported that seven more people had died, bringing the total toll to 26.

As the country struggled to contain the spread of the virus both at home and beyond its borders, the state news agency confirmed in a report that Ebtekar had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The BBC journalist for Iran, Ali Hamedani, also tweeted saying she had "been diagnosed with COVID — 19".

Earlier, Health Ministry spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour had said another 106 cases of the virus were confirmed, raising the tally of infections to 245 — the highest outside China where COVID-19 originated.

Iran's top government brass seemed to be very susceptive to the coronavirus, as the latest confirmed patients included Mojtaba Zolnour, head of parliament's national security and foreign affairs committee, and Iraj Harirchi, the deputy health minister and head of the government's coronavirus task force.

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