While the Middle East country Iran is struggling to combat the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, which emerged in China, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday that an Iranian lawmaker has died from the virus.
Iran is the one of those countries, outside the epicentre of the COVID-19, China, which has suffered the most due to the epidemic. As of Friday, March 6 the Middle East country had reported 4,747 infections.
The disease is spreading within state institutions
The MP who died on Friday is Fatemeh Rahbar, a conservative lawmaker from Tehran, Tasnim said. It did not say if she was included in the country's official toll of 124 deaths from the virus, given on Friday.
On March 2, Tasnim reported the death of Mohammad Mirmohammadi, a member of the Expediency Council, intended to resolve disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, a governmental body that vets electoral candidates among other duties.
Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, and another member of parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi, have also said they have contracted the virus.
