Health official says 15mln Iranians may have had coronavirus

Nearly one in five Iranians may have been infected with the novel coronavirus since the country's outbreak started in February. (File/AFP)

• An Official said 15 million people may have been infected with the coronavirus
• The health minister replaced the ministry’s spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpur, with Sima Sadat Lari

An Iranian health official said 15 million people may have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the country’s outbreak in February, Iranian daily Radio Farda reported on Tuesday. 
The estimate, which would mean one in five Iranians were infected, was drawn from serology tests to identify antibodies in patients who have recovered from the illness.
The figure represents 18.75 percent of the 81 million population of Iran, which on Wednesday recorded 176 thousand cases of infections. 
“About 15 million Iranians may have experienced being infected with this virus since the outbreak began,” a member of the task force set up to combat COVID-19, Ehsan Mostafavi, said. 
Meanwhile, Iran’s Health Minister Saeed Namaki on Tuesday replaced the ministry’s spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpur, with Sima Sadat Lari, and advised the new appointee to refrain from “political games,” according to Radio Farda. 
Jahanpur often got into heated arguments with journalists and social media users over different coronavirus statistics that he announced daily.