Ten new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Iran, one of whom has died, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on state TV on Saturday.
The new numbers bring the total number of cases of the new coronavirus in the country to 28, with five of the total having died.
People are receiving treatment in at least four different cities, including the capital, Tehran, where some pharmacies had already run out of masks and hand sanitizer.
Other cities are Qom, Arak and Rasht.
Minoo Mohraz, an Iranian health ministry official, had said Friday that the virus “possibly came from Chinese workers who work in Qom and traveled to China,” without elaborating.
According to The Associated Press, a Chinese company has been building a solar power plant in that cit.
Earlier on Thursday, health officials called for the suspension of all religious gatherings in Qom where most of the cases have been detected.
Iran has suspended religious pilgrimage trips to Iraq over coronavirus fears, an official who oversees pilgrimage trips said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Iraq announced that it had banned border crossings by Iranian nationals for three days because of worries about the spread of the disease, Iraq’s state news agency said, Reuters reported.
Iranian state TV reported on Saturday that a mayor of a district in Tehran had been diagnosed with coronavirus but the Fars news agency later tweeted a denial from the director of the public relations for the district.
