COVID-19 sickens dozens of Iranian lawmakers

ISTANBUL

Fifty Iranian lawmakers have contracted the coronavirus, amid a wide spread of the omicron variant across the country, according to a local parliamentarian on Sunday.

MP Alireza Salimi told the Youth Journalists Club (YJC), a local news agency, that the upcoming session of the Iranian Parliament will be held in accordance with health regulations.

He, however, did not provide any further details about the infections or names of infected lawmakers.

In March 2020, the 290-seat parliament suspended sessions for two weeks amid a rise in COVID-19 infections in the country.

Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, witnesses a surge in the number of the virus cases after a period of decrease due to the mass vaccination campaigns. However, in recent days, the daily average reached 30,000 cases.

On Saturday, health authorities registered 23,130 infections in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 6,543,837, including 132,745 deaths.

According to official figures, 50 million Iranians - out of the 85-million population - received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine and more than 19 million received a third dose.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar