Death toll in Iran due to coronavirus surges past 6,000

Iran government on Thursday said the death toll due to coronavirus "effectively crossed 6,000 today" while reporting 71 fatalities due the virus in the past 24 hours.

Also Read:Global coronavirus cases surge to 3.2 million, death toll at 227,368

The total death toll due COVID-19 has reached 6,028, according to Iran's health ministry. There are over 93,657 people affected due to the virus ever since the country reported its first case on February 19. Iran is the hardest hit country in the Middle East since the pandemic hit the region.

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On Wednesday, the country had reopened businesses even as 80 people died with the virus showing little signs of abating.

President Hassan Rouhani said: "Due to uncertainty about when this virus will end, we are preparing for work, activity and science."

"We have to follow all the medical instructions, but work and production are as essential as these precautions," the Iran president told the cabinet.

“Excessive fear, excessive anxiety, excessive worrying is worse than this corona itself and this virus and can really break up people’s lives and take away people’s comfort,” Rouhani asserted.

“But at the same time we shouldn’t be careless, meaning there must not be excessive anxiety and worrying and there must be necessary caution.”

The daily toll since April 14 has been below hundred prompting authorities to oopen shops and parks in order to allow people to go about their business, however, the threat of the virus hasn't passed.

Iran president had earlier said that regions will be marked with white, yellow and red based on the number of infections and deaths.