Iran has confirmed three new cases of coronavirus with a main center of the outbreak still being the central city of Qom where two people died on Wednesday.
A health ministry spokesman said on Thursday that two people in Qom and one more in Arak, a provincial capital to the southwest of Qom, had been tested positive for coronavirus.
Kianush Jahanpour said on Twitter that the affected person in Arak was “a dear colleague from the health community” in Iran. He later told ISNA news agency that the man was a doctor from Qom.
The official also retweeted a statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office saying that they were in close contact with Iranian authorities to investigate and respond to the outbreak.
.@WHO is ensuring its support to IR #Iran with additional diagnostic kits and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers#COVID19@saeednamaki @WHOEMRO pic.twitter.com/ZRx2LzD91k
— Christoph Hamelmann (@cahamelmann) February 20, 2020
The statements come a day after two deaths were reported as a result of a first incidence of the epidemic in Iran, more than a month after it began in central China.
The two old men died hours after authorities said they had tested positive for coronavirus based on preliminary tests.
Other reports on Thursday said that a couple had been put in isolation in northern Iran after being suspected of having the virus.
A senior health official in Babol, in Mazandaran province, said the two individuals had shown signs of ill-health upon returning to the city from Qom. However, a later statement said they had tested negative for coronavirus.
More than 2,000 people have died and tens of thousands remain affected by the new coronavirus which has been declared by the WHO as a global public emergency.