IRAN CORONAVIRUS: PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE, SCHOOLS, CULTURAL CENTRES SHUTS

Sun 23 February 2020:

A sixth death from the coronavirus has been reported in Iran as authorities in more than a dozen affected provinces ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres in a bid to contain the outbreak.

Ali Aghazadeh, governor of the Markazi province, said late on Saturday that tests of a patient who recently died in the central city of Arak were positive for the virus.

The person was also suffering from a heart problem, he told the official IRNA news agency.

So far, 28 cases have been confirmed in Iran, but it was not immediately clear if the sixth fatality was among those cases. 

All of those who lost their lives are believed to be Iranian citizens, and the deaths in Iran account for the most in any country outside China. 

Since the new coronavirus emerged in December, it has killed 2,345 people in China, the epicentre of the epidemic, and more than a dozen people elsewhere in the world.

Officially known as COVID-19, the infection first surfaced in Iran on Wednesday, when authorities said it claimed the lives of two elderly people in Qom, a Shia holy city south of the capital.

The Ministry of Health said most of the confirmed cases are either “Qom residents or have a history of coming and going from Qom to other cities”.

Protesters clash with police

Clashes erupted between Iranian security forces and protesters in the northern city of Talesh over the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, videos being shared by activists on social media showed.

Protesters gathered in front of the Noorani Hospital of Talesh country in Gilan Province, northern Iran, on Saturday.

#BREAKING
Feb 22 – Talesh, N #Iran
Locals are protesting the transfer of four coronavirus patients from Rasht to a hospital in this city.
State security forces fired tear gas after protests erupted. Voice says authorities are warning people to back off.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/SOul95xGvq

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) February 22, 2020

Feb 22 – Talesh, northern #Iran
More scenes of people protesting the transfer of four coronavirus patients from the city of Rasht to a local hospital.
Anti-riot units have fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/sdcbb38LYC

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) February 22, 2020

Feb. 22 – 7pm local time, Rasht, N #Iran
Locals have gathered to protest the transfer of 4 #coronavirus infected patients to the Nourani Hospital in Talesh. #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/nuqiSJdrhk

— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) February 22, 2020

Iraq extends ban on Iran arrivals

Authorities in Iraq have extended a ban on all arrivals from neighbouring Iran, except of Iraqi citizens, as the country grapples with the possibility of an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The extension was announced in a statement issued by caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s office on Saturday as Iran announced its sixth death from the disease that emerged in central China late last year.

The statement did not specify how long the ban, which was first announced on Thursday, would be in place.

Officially known as COVID-19, the virus has so far taken more than 2,300 lives, with the vast majority of those deaths happening in mainland China. It has spread to almost 30 countries including several in the Middle East: besides Iran, where there have been at least 28 confirmed cases, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon have all reported infections.

But to date, there have been no cases in Iraq.

On Saturday, Iraq’s border crossings with Iran remained shut for the third day, with only Iraqi returnees allowed to enter and subjected to screening. Flights to and from Iranian cities had also been suspended, airport staff in the capital, Baghdad, said on Saturday.

“We need to develop the medical staff responsible of checking people coming [into Iraq],” Ali al-Mosawi, of the Iraqi Red Crescent, told Al Jazeera.

Activists said protesters were angry at the regime’s handling of coronavirus outbreak which claimed two more deaths on Saturday, bringing the total death toll in Iran to six as of Saturday.

Authorities in Iran announced the detection of at least 10 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in Iran to 29.

Videos being shared online also showed Iranian security forces firing tear gas at the protesters.

Sources confirmed to Al Arabiya that Iranian authorities will be suspending all football matches across the country starting on Sunday for 10 days due to the outbreak.

Iranian state television also confirmed they would be closing all schools, universities and educational centers in two central cities to prevent a deadly coronavirus outbreak from further spreading. The shutdown officially began on Sunday and will last two days in Qom and a week in Arak.

Iran has yet to confirm the origin of the outbreak, but one official speculated that it was brought in by Chinese workers.

The cases in Iran have affected neighbouring countries.

The United Arab Emirates announced two new coronavirus cases on Saturday, an Iranian tourist and his wife, the state news agency WAM reported, raising the total number of coronavirus cases in that country to 13.

Lebanon confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday, a 45-year-old woman returning from Qom.

Iraq announced on Thursday that it had banned border crossings by Iranian nationals, while Iraqi Airways suspended flights to Iran. Kuwait Airways also suspended all flights to Iran starting on Thursday. Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had suspended travel by citizens and expatriates to Iran.

Kuwait Airways was operating special flights to evacuate more than 700 Kuwaitis from the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Saturday, it said in a post on its official Twitter account.

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