17 Oct 2026
Coronavirus: Iran reports two suspected fatal cases at Qom hospital
According to BBC, Iran's health ministry says two people have died after preliminary tests came back as positive for the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19.
Spokesman Kianush Jahanpour tweeted that they died due to their "old age and deficient immune systems" while being treated in hospital in Qom. Deputy Health Minister Qasem Janbabaei told the Young Journalists' Club (YJC) that they were both Iranian nationals.
They were the first two suspected cases of Covid-19 to be announced in Iran. State news agency IRNA reported that they had not travelled abroad or even outside of Qom province prior to their deaths. The agency later said that schools and universities in the province would be closed on Thursday as a precaution against further spread of the disease.
Mr Janbabaei was quoted by the YJC as saying that "for the time being we have no reports at all" of cases outside Qom.
BBC Persian understands that 25 people are being quarantined in the same hospital on suspicion that they might have Covid-19.
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