Coronavirus outbreak: Iran reports 85 new virus deaths; toll rises to 514

Reuters photo

Iran reported 85 new deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours taking the total death toll to 514 in the country. Iran is the fourth most affected country due to coronavirus after China, South Korea and Italy.

Earlier, on Thursday (March 12, 2020) Iran has also asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak. 

China which is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak has reported 80,814 and more than 4000 have died due to coronavirus in the country. Italy and South Korea which are the most affectd country after China have reported 15,113 and 7,979 cases respectively.

Meanwhile, a second special flight with 44 Indians from coronavirus-stricken Iran arrived in India on Friday (March 13, 2020). The flight had landed in Mumbai and from here the evacuees will be flown by special aircraft to Jaisalmer.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to twitter to welcome the stranded Indians back home. He wrote: "Second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims has arrived today from #Iran. Our efforts to bring back the others continue. India_in_Iran and our medical team - keep up the good work. Appreciate the support of Iranian authorities and their airlines."

The passengers on board will be kept in an isolation room at the airport in Mumbai and then the Indian Army will take them to Jaisalmer by a special aircraft. The evacuees will be set up at the Indian Army quarantine facility created in Jaisalmer. 

The total number of coronavirus cases globally has gone high up to 135,866 and 4,992 have died due to the deadly virus. More than 70,000 recovery cases have also been reported globally.