TEHRAN – The World Health Organization has delivered 100,000 coronavirus diagnostic kits to Iran, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said, ISNA reported on Saturday.

“Dr. [Christoph] Hamelmann, the WHO Representative in Iran, paid a visit to Pasteur Institute of Iran, and praised the country’s efforts over the past months in order to expand and improve capacities for diagnosing COVID-19,” Jahanpour wrote on his Twitter account.

On March 10, a team of experts from WHO, GOARN partners, Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, and the Chinese Center for Disease Control concluded a technical support mission on COVID-19 to Iran.

“After five days of extensive meetings and field visits, we see that Iran’s strategies and priorities to control COVID-19 are evolving in the right direction, a comprehensive coordinated approach is being applied, and solid work is being done especially in the areas of case management, laboratories, and risk communications. We are also impressed by the engagement from other sectors of the community. 

Health officials and health workers are clearly working very hard, and are committed to controlling this outbreak and saving lives. The government is leveraging the strong national health system and disaster management capacities to respond to the outbreak,” said Dr. Richard Brennan, WHO Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, who led the mission.

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran reached 106,220 on Saturday, of whom 6,589 have died and 85,064 recovered so far.

Over the past 24 hours, 1,529 new cases of people having the virus have been identified, Deputy Health Minister Kianoush Jahanpour said, ISNA reported.

MG