A member of Iran’s Expediency Council died Monday from coronavirus disease 2019 (CoVid-19), according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 76, lost his life from the virus at a hospital in the capital Tehran, IRNA said.

Mirmohammadi was a former member of parliament for Qom province. In 2018, he was appointed a member of the country’s Expediency Council, which advises Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The Health Ministry announced on Monday that the death toll from coronavirus in Iran has climbed to 66.

Deputy Health Minister Alireza Reisi said 12 more people died from the disease as 523 new cases were reported across the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 1,501.

Most of the new cases were detected in Tehran, Markazi, Qom, and Ghilan, according to the official.

Reisi said 291 patients with the CoVid-19 were successfully treated and discharged from hospitals across the country.

First case in Indonesia

Meanwhile, Indonesia confirmed its first two cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday.

President Joko Widodo announced that a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter were diagnosed with the disease.

“They have been tested and this morning, I received a report from the health minister that the mother and daughter were tested positive with Covid-19,” Widodo told reporters at the State Palace.

Widodo said the two interacted with a Japanese visitor who had contracted the coronavirus, officially known as Covid-19.

Also confirming the case, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said both patients were undergoing intensive medical treatment.

“The authority isolated their homes in the Depok area,” Putranto.

China sees drop of cases

China said Monday it was seeing a reduction in fresh coronavirus cases as the global death toll crossed 3,000.

A new study on the viral infection has shown that the median age of the victims was 47 years, with an overwhelming majority of males.

China’s National Health Commission said deaths from the virus, officially known as CoVid-19, has risen to 2,914, with 202 new cases as of Sunday night.

So far, it has spread to 66 countries with more than 88,000 cases reported world over including those in China.

After China, South Korea singles out as the country with the most reported cases.

Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 599 new cases were recorded on Monday taking the total number of cases to 4,334.

With four new deaths, the country’s death toll from Covid-19 has reached 26, Yonhap reported.

This has triggered a temporary travel ban to South Korea by 81 countries.

Japan has reported 962 cases, including more than 700 among people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo. Schools across the country remain shut until April to curb the outbreak.

Likewise, Thailand reported a new case Monday taking the total to 43 since January.

Australia also confirmed its first cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus in New South Wales, ABC news reported. The country now has 25 coronavirus cases.

Health officials in New Zealand said they suspected two more cases of the fatal virus, but results have yet to come.

The country has placed a travel ban on foreigners arriving from China and Iran, the two hotspots of the virus, until March 10. (Anadolu)