Tehran: Iran’s health ministry said Thursday that the new coronavirus has killed 75 more people, raising the death toll to 429 amid over 10,000 cases as the Islamic Republic revealed it had asked for a multibillion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fight the virus. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced the latest virus figures in a televised news conference.
Iran has asked for an emergency USD 5 billion loan from the IMF as the disease doesn’t appear to be subsiding. Iran’s central bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said Thursday he made the request last week in a letter to IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva. The international lender has said it stands ready to support countries through a Rapid Financial Instrument (RPI). This incidentally is the first time, Iran has asked for a loan from IMF in 62 years.
Iran’s economy has been battered by US sanctions, which have choked Tehran’s ability to sell its oil. The recent outbreak of the virus there has compounded its economic woes, with all of Iran’s neighbours closing their borders to Iranians and multiple nations cutting travel links with the country, including shipping in some cases, which is affecting imports, as well.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
A spike in cases in the Gulf Arab states helped push infections in the Middle East for the new coronavirus past 10,000 cases Thursday, with most infected people either in Iran or having recently travelled there.
Countries in the region have imposed their own varying levels of travel restrictions, from wholesale halting of all commercial flights in Kuwait, to Saudi Arabia banning travel to 39 countries.
Multiple top officials in Iran — from its senior vice-president to Cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament, Revolutionary Guard members, health workers and health ministry officials — have contracted the virus. Some of those officials have died.
Agencies
