Iran's Coronavirus Death Toll Rises to 194 Amid New Cases

The novel coronavirus has claimed 194 lives in Iran, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced Sunday amid more reports of deaths related to this illness.

Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the ministry, said the total number of the confirmed cases now stands at 6,566, of whom 2,134 have recovered.

The virus itself has also hit several Iranian officials and ministers, with some reports estimating that as many as eight percent of the parliament is infected with the illness.

Tehran records 1,805 cases of infection, the highest number among the country's provinces, followed by Qom with 685 cases and Mazandaran with 620 cases.

Furthermore, Iran's flag carrier IranAir announced on Sunday that it has suspended all its flights to and from Europe until further notice, official IRNA news agency reported.

The reason for the suspension is "restrictions" imposed by Europe "for unknown reasons," IranAir said.

Iran has been the hardest-hit country in the Middle East region by the coronavirus epidemic, with the death toll rising to 145 on Saturday. So far, Iran's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was 5,823.

Iran announced the first cases of the virus infection in the central city of Qom on February 19.