Iran closed all schools in the country from Saturday to Tuesday as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak reached 34.
"Based on assessments ... all the schools in the country will be closed for three days starting from tomorrow," Health Minister Saeed Namaki said Friday.
“We have a relatively difficult week ahead ... as we see the trend, the main peak of the disease will be in the next week and coming days,” he added.
Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur reported eight new deaths as the number of infections jumped to 388.
In brief remarks from Tehran, he cautioned the number of cases would likely further spike as Iran now has 15 laboratories testing samples.
The vast majority of infections were in three provinces Tehran, Qom and Gilan.
Iran has the highest death toll from the virus outside China, where COVID-19 first emerged.
One of Iran's seven vice presidents, Massoumeh Ebtekar, and deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi are among several senior officials who have been infected.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States had offered to help with the coronavirus response in Iran, and raised doubts about Tehran’s willingness to share information.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi dismissed the offer as “ridiculous”.
Experts, including at the World Health Organization, worry Tehran may be underreporting the number of cases.
Iran denied for days that the virus was in the country acknowledging it just as it was trying to pump up enthusiasm for the parliamentary election — a vote that saw the lowest voter turnout since its revolution.
By doing so, Iran likely allowed the virus to spread rapidly, reaching even into the upper echelons of its power structure as it sickened four lawmakers, top clerics and other officials.
The health ministry spokesman in a tweet on Friday rejected a report by BBC Persian that at least 210 people have died from coronavirus in the country.
