TEHRAN: A woman has died from the MERS coronavirus in Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman, the Islamic republic’s first victim, media reported yesterday.
The 53-year-old woman was one of two sisters the health ministry said on Wednesday had tested positive for the illness.
“Despite all the efforts made by the medical staff, the patient who was infected by the coronavirus passed away,” Mohammad Mehdi Gooya, transmissible diseases unit chief, told Fars news agency.
Gooya said the second sister was in good condition and had been discharged from hospital.
Meanwhile, Mehdi Shafiei, head of the Kerman disease prevention unit, was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying there are six other suspected cases in Kerman.
Reformist journalist arrested
TEHRAN: Iranian police have arrested a woman journalist who covered parliament for pro-reform media on orders from the conservative-controlled judiciary, the pro-reform Sharq newspaper reported yesterday.
“Saba Azarpeyk was arrested yesterday (Wednesday) morning at her home,” the daily said, adding that the grounds for her arrest were not immediately clear. She was among 18 journalists for reformist media who were arrested in January 2013 for allegedly working for the Farsi-language services of foreign media deemed hostile by the authorities.
AFP
