Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday about half of all government employees were staying at home as part of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, state TV reported.
Iran is one of the hardest hit countries outside China, with 24,811 confirmed infections and more than 1,934 dead, according to the latest figures on Tuesday.
The dead included the mother-in-law of the son of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the state-run IRNA news agency said.
Another measure to contain the outbreak, the temporary release of prisoners, will be extended until the end of the current Iranian month of Farvardin, about April 18, Rouhani said.
Authorities so far have refused to impose nationwide — or even citywide — quarantines in the nation of 80 million people, drawing widespread criticism.
Most people experience mild symptoms from the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus and recover within weeks. But it is highly contagious and causes severe illness in some patients, particularly the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. People can carry and spread the virus without showing any symptoms.
