Iran coronavirus death toll passes 3,000

Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus has crossed the 3,000 mark, the health ministry says, reporting 138 new fatalities within 24 hours.

Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour says the death toll now stands at 3,036. He said 2,987 new cases brought the total to 47,593 and 15,473 of those hospitalized had recovered.

The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Gov. Enayatollah Rahimi of the southern Fars province as saying a riot broke out at Adel Abad Prison, the main lockup in the city of Shiraz. Rahimi said prisoners broke cameras and caused other damage in two sections housing violent criminals. No one was wounded and no one escaped.

Iran had temporarily released around 100,000 prisoners as part of measures taken to contain the pandemic, leaving an estimated 50,000 people behind bars, including violent offenders and so-called “security cases,” often dual nationals and others with Western ties.

IRNA reported Friday that 70 inmates had escaped Saqqez Prison in Iran’s western Kurdistan province. Prisoners beat guards during the chaos, a local prosecutor said. Several inmates later returned on their own to the prison.

Since the beginning of the year, riots have broken out in prisons in Aligudarz, Hamedan and Tabriz as well, with some prisoners escaping, IRNA reported.

Header: Emergency medical staff and nurses wearing protective suits, help while transferring a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to Masih Daneshvari Hospital, in Tehran, Monday | Photo: Reuters via West Asia News Agency

Source — AFP & Israel Hayom