Iran's coronavirus death toll reaches 22

Iran confirmed on Thursday 22 deaths from the new coronavirus, along with 141 infected people. Publishing new figures on the spread of the disease across the country, the official IRNA news agency said three more people died from the coronavirus, raising the number of deaths to 22. According to IRNA, the virus, known as COVID-19, has so far spread across 20 Iranian governorates, while 11 governorates are currently safe from any infection.

On Wednesday, the Iranian Health Ministry said it had no plans to quarantine any cities but rather "to quarantine individuals". Iran is among over 35 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India, which account for the nearly 80,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed around the world. The global death toll is nearly 2,800, and China, where the outbreak originated, is the worst-hit with more than 78,000 cases and over 2,700 fatalities. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency.