Iran's vice president 'contracts coronavirus'

TEHRAN

Iran's Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has tested positive for the coronavirus, a local news agency claimed Wednesday.

Besides Jahangiri, other government representatives in Iran who have reportedly contracted the virus include Minister of Cultural Heritage Ali Asghar Mounesan and President of National Olympic Committee Reza Salehi Amiri, according to a list published by the semiofficial Fars news agency.

The three join dozens of other lawmakers, and the Gulf nation's deputy health minister who was diagnosed earlier.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Iran has risen to 354, according to state television.

Authorities said 63 people died in the last 24 hours while 958 new cases were diagnosed, taking the national tally to 9,000, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour was quoted as saying.

The virus originated in Wuhan, China last December, and has since spread to over 100 countries.

The global death toll is nearly 4,300, with more than 118,000 confirmed cases, according to the WHO, which has declared the outbreak a global pandemic.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz