Iran quarantines port city due to COVID-19

TEHRAN

Iran has quarantined the southeastern port city Chabahar over coronavirus fears.

Entering and exiting Chabahar, in the Sistan-Baluchestan province, have been banned, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Ambulances announced that Chabahar is in quarantine and people are not to leave their homes.

Meanwhile, the city of Nishabur in the eastern Razavi-Khorasan province is on red alert, with entering and exiting banned.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also canceled a traditional Newroz speech.

Previously, travel to 17 states in Iran were banned over the outbreak.

After the first case was seen in the city of Qom on Feb. 19, Tehran did not quarantine the city, fueling the outbreak.

The coronavirus has spread to over 90 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The global death toll from the virus is around 3,800, with more than 109,000 confirmed cases since COVID-19 emerged in China in December, the UN health body said.

As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, some governments closed borders and suspended land and air travel with many countries including China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea.

After declaring the outbreak an international health emergency in January, the WHO last month updated the global risk level to very high.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut