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One Person is Dying of COVID-19 Every Seven Minutes in Iran

One person is dying from COVID-19 every seven minutes in Iran, state television said. (AFP)
One person is dying from COVID-19 every seven minutes in Iran, state television said. (AFP)
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One Person is Dying of COVID-19 Every Seven Minutes in Iran

One person is dying from COVID-19 every seven minutes in Iran, state television said. (AFP)
One person is dying from COVID-19 every seven minutes in Iran, state television said. (AFP)

One person is dying from COVID-19 every seven minutes in Iran, state television said on Monday, as the Health Ministry reported 215 new deaths from the disease and state media warned of a lack of proper social distancing.

Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari was quoted by the state TV as saying the 215 deaths in the past 24 hours took the combined death toll to 17,405 in Iran, and the number of confirmed cases rose by 2,598 to 312,035.

State television showed several Iranians in a busy Tehran street without wearing face masks or social distancing.

Some experts have doubted the accuracy of Iran’s official coronavirus tolls. A report by the Iranian parliament’s research center in April suggested that the coronavirus tolls might be almost twice as many as those announced by the health ministry.

The report said that Iran’s official coronavirus figures were based only on the number of deaths in hospitals and those who had already tested positive for the coronavirus.

British broadcaster BBC reported on Monday that, based on data from an anonymous source, the number of deaths in Iran might be three times higher than officially reported. Iranian health authorities denied the report and said there had been no cover-up.

With COVID-19 deaths surging since restrictions were eased in mid-April, Iranian authorities have said measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 will be reimposed if health regulations are not observed. Since last month, wearing face masks in public places and covered spaces has been mandatory.

Iran’s National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce was expected to announce later on Monday whether nationwide university entrance examinations, with over 1 million participants, will take place in August. Many Iranians have called on social media for the examinations to be postponed.

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Central Myanmar Shaken by New Quake

A man on motorcycle rides past a damaged building in Mandalay on April 13, 2025, following the devastating March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)
A man on motorcycle rides past a damaged building in Mandalay on April 13, 2025, following the devastating March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)
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Central Myanmar Shaken by New Quake

A man on motorcycle rides past a damaged building in Mandalay on April 13, 2025, following the devastating March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)
A man on motorcycle rides past a damaged building in Mandalay on April 13, 2025, following the devastating March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck on Sunday morning near Meiktila, a small city in central Myanmar, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quake came as Myanmar is engaged in relief efforts following a massive 7.7 magnitude temblor that also hit the country's central region on March 28. The epicenter of the latest quake was roughly hallway between Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, which suffered enormous damage and casualties in last month's earthquake, and Naypyitaw, the capital, where several government offices were then damaged.
There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties caused by the new quake, one of the strongest of hundreds of aftershocks from the March 28 temblor, The Associated Press reported. As of Friday, the death toll from that quake was 3,649, with 5,018 injured, according to Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government.
Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said Sunday's quake occurred in the area of Wundwin township, 97 kilometers (60 miles) south of Mandalay, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles). The US Geological Survey estimated the depth at 7.7 km (4.8 miles).
Two Wundwin residents told AP by phone the quake was so strong that people rushed out of buildings and that ceilings in some dwellings were damaged. A resident of Naypyitaw also reached by phone said he did not feel the latest quake. Those contacted asked not to be named for fear of angering the military government, which prefers to closely control information.
The United Nations last week warned that damage caused by the March 28 quake will worsen the existing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, where a civil war had already displaced more than 3 million people.
It said the quake severely disrupted agricultural production and that a health emergency loomed because many medical facilities in the quake zone were damaged or destroyed.
Sunday’s quake occurred on the morning of the first day of the country’s three-day Thingyan holiday, which celebrates the traditional New Year. Public festivities for the holiday had already been canceled.