The Iranian Armed Forces will be involved in countering the coronavirus spread and the authorities will try to take the situation under control as soon as possible with minimal human losses, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Trend reports citing Sputnik.
"We assure people that we will do all we have in our power to protect people's health and in doing so, we have immediately formed the headquarters for combating and preventing it ... all governmental bodies, the Armed Forces and public institutions will do whatever they can. Our aim is to control the disease in the shortest time possible with the least possible casualties", Rouhani said as quoted by the President's press service.
Iran has reported 43 coronavirus disease cases so far, of which eight have been fatal.
Neighboring countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey have closed borders with Iran as a precaution measure against the epidemic spread.
The first cases of COVID-19 infection were reported in Iran on Wednesday, and on the same day, it was announced that two elderly people had died from the virus in the Shiite holy city of Qom.
The new type of coronavirus was first detected in China's Wuhan, in Hubei province, in late December and since then has infected more than 77,000 people worldwide, with the death toll in China alone exceeding 2,400 people.