Iran halts all sports events over coronavirus fears

By Zehra Nur Duz

ISTANBUL (AA) - All sports events were cancelled in Iran due to spread of new coronavirus known as COVID-19 across country, local media reported on Thursday.

All sports events have been called off in country until March 20 in accordance with the decision of the Iranian center working to prevent and combat coronavirus, Sports Medicine News Agency of Iran reported.

According to the decision, all sports competitions and trainings were cancelled, while sports centers were closed.

The death toll from the new coronavirus in Iran climbed to 92, according to the latest figures of Iranian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO).

A total of 15 more people died of the disease as 586 new cases were reported across the country in the last 24 hours, Kianoush Jahanpour, a ministry spokesman, said at a news conference in the capital Tehran.

The latest figure brought the total number of infections to over 2,900, the official said.

The new coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, last December and has now spread to 79 countries.

The global death toll is nearing 3,500, with more than 95,000 confirmed cases, according to the WHO.

The WHO, which had declared the outbreak an international health emergency, recently updated the global risk level to “very high”.