Iran reports 54 new virus deaths, highest one-day toll

Iran is the hardest-hit country in the Mideast by the new coronavirus, which sickens but largely doesn’t kill those afflicted. Across the region, there are over 8,600 confirmed cases of the virus.

Tehran: Iran on Tuesday reported 54 deaths from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day toll since the start of the outbreak in the country.

The new deaths bring the number of those killed by the virus in the Islamic republic to 291, the health ministry's spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised conference.

He added that 881 new cases had been confirmed, bringing the total infection tally to 8,042.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

A rumor circulating in Iran that alcohol can treat coronavirus has so far led to 37 deaths and sent 270 people to the hospital after being poisoned by bootleg alcohol, the state-run IRNA news agency said on Tuesday.

Alcoholic beverages are illegal in Iran, but homemade brews in the southern city of Ahvaz apparently substituted toxic methanol for ethanol and used bleach to mask the colour, said health ministry's official Ali Ehsanpour.

Seven bootleggers have been identified and arrested, said Ali Beiranvand, the deputy prosecutor in Ahvaz.

With inputs from AP