Coronavirus Update: 50 People Reportedly Die In Iran's Qom From COVID-19

The novel coronavirus that started spreading in Wuhan, China, has killed 50 people in the Iranian city of Qom this month, the country’s semi-official Ilna news agency revealed Monday.

The news came after Iranian state TV reported earlier in the day that out of 47 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 12 people have died. According to The Guardian, ILNA quoted Qom official Ahmad Amiriabadi Farahani as saying that the deaths this month go as far back as Feb. 13.

Farahani was also quoted to have said that over 250 people in Qom have been placed under quarantine. The news came after World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concerns about the situation in Iran and Italy from the spreading infections.

While Farahani said the deaths started Feb. 13, the Iranian government only reportedly the first deaths in the country on Feb. 19 – the same day it announced confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.

Iran's government rejected the report that 50 people died in Qom from the coronavirus. "I categorically deny this information," Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said in a news conference.

Shortly after news of 50 deaths in Iran emerged, other Middle Eastern countries reported their first COVID-19 cases.

Bahrain confirmed its first coronavirus patient, Kuwait said it had three confirmed cases, and Afghanistan one COVID-19 patient, Al Jazeera reported.

As part of the efforts to keep the virus from spreading further across the Middle East, Armenia, Pakistan and Turkey moved to close their borders with Iran. It remains to be seen whether other neighboring countries will follow suit.

On Sunday, Iranian schools and universities were shut down as authorities raced to reassure the public that the health ministry is doing what has to be done to contain the virus.

The outbreak in Iran was traced to Qom, which is popularly known as Iran's southern holy city. It has a population of around 1.2 million and there are multiple Chinese nationals in the area, the Financial Times reported.

A spokesman for the Iranian health ministry, Dr. Kianush Jahanpur, said that the government’s top priority is still its people’s health, adding that they are not looking at the economic or political factors affecting the coronavirus situation at this point.

Some calls have also been made to shutter Qom’s holy shrine until the COVID-19 strain is contained. Tehran has yet to confirm whether it will do so amid the ongoing outbreak.