Credit: Aljazeera
Coronavirus has killed around 50 people in Qom, the Iranian city's representative in parliament said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency.
The comments by MP Ahmad Amirabadi Farhani suggest that coronavirus is far more widespread in Iran than previously thought. The Iranian government announced on Monday morning that the total stood at 12 in the entire country, raising questions over its reporting of the crisis. Iran's Health Ministry rejected the number on Monday afternoon.
“Up until last night, around 50 people died from coronavirus. The health minister is to blame,” Amirabadi Farhani said on Monday.
Ten people die in Qom daily due to the coronavirus outbreak in the city, he added.
In response, Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi denied the figures and said he would resign if Amirabadi Farhani's numbers were correct. “If the number of coronavirus victims in Qom is a quarter of what media outlets are reporting, I will resign. The figure is incorrect, and we are sure of our statistics,” he said.
However, Health Ministry Spokesman Kianush Jahanpour rapidly revised the total up on Monday, saying there are now 61 confirmed cases in the country.
Amirabadi Farhani also criticized the government's efforts to control the virus. “Qom is in a poor state and the government has been unsuccessful in controlling the coronavirus outbreak,” he said.
The government is not “worried enough” about the outbreak, he added, stating: “It is true that we should keep calm, but we must not act as nothing has happened.”
He added that coronavirus has been in Qom for three weeks already, but nurses were still unprepared.
The MP himself was forced to leave the parliament due to feeling unwell, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, citing another MP.
The Iranian parliament held a session behind closed doors today which was also attended by health minister Saeed Namaki.
Prior to the start of the session, the body temperature of MPs was checked as a precaution, and three MPs – including Amirabadi Farhani – were advised not to attend the session, ISNA quoted an unnamed MP as saying.
Despite that, all three MPs attended the session, the unnamed MP told ISNA.
Amirabadi Farhani was told that he needs to be quarantined, but he declined and went home, the MP added. A member of the parliament staff then disinfected his seat, according to ISNA.
Amirabadi Farhani spoke with journalists today and gave exclusive interviews to several TV channels, ISNA said, adding that the MP was wearing a mask and a pair of gloves.
Credit: New York Post
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