Iranian Medical Staff Killed by Coronavirus Deemed Martyrs
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei agreed to an offer by Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki to regard as “martyrs of service” the country’s medical staff who lose their lives due to contracting coronavirus while treating patients in hospitals.
“As you know, in the recent plight of the country following the sudden infection of a number of our dear compatriots with the coronavirus disease, doctors, nurses and other medical staff of various health centers selflessly stayed away from their loved ones and families, and some of them lost their lives because of the virus infection…,” Namaki said in a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei.
The health minister also requested the Leader to agree to regarding the medical staff killed by the new coronavirus in hospitals as martyrs.
Following the letter, Ayatollah Khamenei accepted the minister’s proposal to consider the dead medical staff as “martyrs of service”.
The Iranian Health Ministry’s public relations director, Kianoush Jahanpour, said on Monday that so far, 2,394 patients with the coronavirus have recovered.
The health official further said the death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic in the country has risen to 237.
Medical staffs in all 31 provinces of Iran have been working tirelessly over the past weeks to contain the novel coronavirus.
First detected in Wuhan city in central China in December, the virus has spread to more than 100 countries.
The global death toll is around 3,800 with more than 100,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).