Lahore, 27th Feb: According to the reports of Baaghi TV, a Vice President of Iran for Women and Family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, has been tested positive for coronavirus.
Ms Ebtekar, the latest senior official to contract COVID-19, has shown mild symptoms of the virus and has not been admitted to the hospital.
Ms Ebtekar, the English-speaking spokesperson for the group of Iranian students who seized hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, was captured in a photo attending a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday.
The announcement of Ms Ebtekar having coronavirus comes just after two days about the news of Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, being tested positive for coronavirus.
Mr Harirchi, deputy health minister and head of Iran’s anti-coronavirus taskforce, posted a video online confirming he had the virus and was self-isolating at home.
The virus’ epicentre in the Islamic Republic of Iran is the holy Shia city of Qom, where there is a famous shrine which remains open despite the government calling for it to be closed.
While the government has imposed some restrictions on holy sites and called off some Friday prayer services, President Rouhani has said there are no plans to quarantine entire cities hit by the virus.
Iran has the highest reported number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China, Iran’s health ministry spokesman said on Thursday, that 26 Iranians have died out of a total of 245 positive cases.
Coronavirus is spreading globally and becoming a serious concern as declared by World Health Organization, effecting more than 82,000 people and killing almost 2,800 people in China.
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for further updates.
