Iran recorded an additional 591 positive cases of nCoV, bringing the number of infected people to 3,513, of which 107 died.

"Testing in the past 24 hours shows that there are 591 new cases of nCoV infection, we now have 3,513 positive cases. Sadly, an additional 15 deaths, bringing the number of deaths from Covid-19 to 107," the spokesman said. Iranian Health Ministry Kianush Jahanpur said today.

Iran is the third largest outbreak in the world, behind China and South Korea. Many senior Iranian officials are also positive for nCoV, including Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, who heads the government's anti-Covid-19 task force. Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, an advisory board member to the Iranian leader, died on March 2.

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced that the entire school would be closed until March 20. In an effort to stop Covid-19, Tehran announced that it would temporarily release more than 54,000 prisoners with negative test results with nCoV. However, people who have long sentences and are considered dangerous to the community are not eligible for release.

Iran has yet to ban citizens from traveling abroad, but neighboring countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Iraq have closed the border and suspended flights from Iran.

Covid-19, started in Wuhan in December 2019, has now appeared in 84 countries and territories, leaving more than 95,000 people infected, including more than 3,200 deaths and nearly 54,000 people cured.