An Iranian Health Ministry spokesman on Saturday said there were nine new coronavirus deaths, raising the toll to 43 people amid 593 confirmed cases in the country.
Kianoush Jahanpour urged people to stay away from mass gatherings and limit their travel.
"Unfortunately, nine people died of the virus in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 43 now. The new confirmed infected cases since yesterday is 205 that makes the total number of confirmed infected people 593," Jahanpur told state TV.
The country has the world’s highest death toll outside of China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
At the same news conference, Jahanpour suggested “tens of thousands” could seek testing for the coronavirus. He also encouraged people to continue to avoid mass gatherings — even funerals for those who died of the virus.
“The safest place is our homes and our cities,” he said. “We have to reduce our visits, even attending to funerals, and of course those people who are mourning, will feel guilty if they find that their ceremony causes the disease to spread.”
The semi-official Mehr news agency said Saturday that Iran's government spokesman will hold his weekly news conference online.
Iran warned on Friday of a "difficult week ahead.”
Several countries have announced that they would deny entry to all foreign nationals traveling from Iran.
Azerbaijan closes Iran border
Azerbaijan said on Saturday it had closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Two Azeri citizens have been placed in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, the government said in a statement, adding that both had arrived from Iran.
Azerbaijan said the decision to close its border had been taken “in light of the World Health Organization’s recommendations and the experience of other countries related to the risk of the spread of coronavirus”.
The government will start a process to bring back its citizens from Iran, as well as returning Iranian citizens living in Azerbaijan, the statement added.
Azerbaijan registered its first case of coronavirus on Feb. 28. It currently has three confirmed cases.
Neighboring Georgia on Saturday reported a third case of coronavirus. Two infected Georgian citizens arrived in the country from Azerbaijan after traveling to Iran, while the third patient, a 31-year-old woman, came from Italy.
The rapid spread of the coronavirus has fueled fears of a pandemic, with multiple countries reporting their first cases this week as the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its global risk alert to "very high".
