TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2020) The death toll from COVID-19 in Iran has surpassed 3,000, the health ministry's spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour, said on Wednesday.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has increased by 2,987 over the past day to 47,593, while the number of deaths rose by 138 to 3,036, he said, adding that a total of 15,473 people had recovered.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani noted earlier in the day that the spread of coronavirus had slowed down in all provinces of the country.
Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities decided to punish asymptomatic COVID-19 patients who breach the two-week self-isolation regime. In addition, they extended measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus until April 8.
Iran has restricted movement around the country, making exceptions only for rescue services, police and government, which led to a sharp reduction in passenger traffic.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 873,000 people have been infected with the new coronavirus worldwide, and over 43,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
