Iran recorded an additional 9 deaths, including one MP, bringing the total number of deaths from nCoV to 43.

The Iranian news agency Students News Agency reported that MP Mohammad Ali Ramazani Dastak of Astana Ashrafieh died this morning after being tested positive for nCoV a few days ago. He was hospitalized "with flu symptoms and chemical wounds" from the Iraq-Iran war.

Iranian Ministry of Health spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour added 9 people died from nCoV in the past 24 hours.

"The total number of deaths is now 43. The number of new cases has increased by 205 from yesterday, bringing the total to 593," the spokesman said on television today.

Iran is seen as a global threat as a series of nCoV infections in neighboring countries and Canana originated from the Middle East country. Iran recorded the first two cases of nCoV on February 19 in Qom, the seventh largest city and south of the capital Tehran. The number of deaths from nCoV in Iran is the second highest in the world, after China.

Many Iranian officials have been confirmed to be infected with the nCoV virus, including Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, Chairman of the National Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the National Assembly, Mojtaba Zolnour, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi or Senator Mahmoud Sadeghi.

The Covid-19 outbreak started in Wuhan from December 2019 to present in 60 countries and territories, with more than 83,000 people infected, more than 2,800 killed and more than 36,000 cured. New Zealand, Belarus and Azerbaijan are the latest countries to detect nCoV infections.