Two elderly Iranians died in a hospital in Qom tonight, hours after being confirmed to be infected with corona virus.

"Two Iranians positive for nCoV today died of respiratory problems," the head of Qom City Medical University, more than 130 kilometers south of Tehran, told Mehr news agency on February 19.

Iranian Ministry of Health spokesman Kianush Jahanpur later confirmed on Twitter, saying both died in intensive care because of "advanced age and poor immunity".

Iran later confirmed it was the first two cases of nCoV in the country and said the two patients were quarantined.

With two new deaths, the number of people killed by nCoV worldwide increased to 2,012. More than 75,000 people were infected in 28 countries and territories after the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Cases outside mainland China in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, France, Philippines and Iran.