TEHRAN – The office of Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Monday that the spokesman has contracted Covid-19 and that his planned press conference won’t be held due to his disease, IRNA reported.

“Considering that government spokesman Ali Rabiei has developed some symptoms of Covid-19, the news conference, which was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, was canceled for the purpose of observing health protocols,” the spokesman’s office said.

The office also said that Rabiei was admitted to hospital and now he is receiving treatment for the novel coronavirus. Rabiei has stayed at home since the last weekend, but then he was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for the virus.

According to IRNA, the general condition of Rabiei is reportedly good.

Meanwhile, Sima-Sadat Lari, Iran’s Health Ministry spokeswoman, announced that the novel coronavirus has killed 212 people in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 15,912.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, she also confirmed 2,434 new cases of Covid-19, raising the total number of cases to 293,606.
According to the spokeswoman, the virus has infected 293,606 people in Iran so far, with 255,144 of them have been recovered from the disease.  

SKM/PA