The Iranian cabinet of ministers held a session on Sunday, chaired by First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, to weigh plans to contain the coronavirus.
In the meeting, the vice president praised the Chinese government for observing healthcare protocols at the highest level following the outbreak of the new respiratory virus, and stressed the need for procedures for protecting the health of Iranian citizens.
The cabinet then made five main decisions to control the coronavirus, ordered the Ministry of Health to maintain a full state of preparedness across the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and assigned all government organizations to work in cooperation with the Health Ministry in this regard.
The Interior Ministry was also ordered to provide the necessary instructions to all provincial governors in the border provinces, particularly along the eastern borders, to handle the possible cases of the coronavirus.
Moreover, the cabinet of ministers decided to suspend all direct flights to and from mainland China, and assigned the Ministry of Road and Urban Development to dispatch a specially-equipped airplane and a special medical team to Chinas Wuhan -the epicenter of outbreak of the coronavirus- to bring back Iranian university students and citizens.
According to another decision made at the meeting, all passengers arriving in Iran from China must be kept in quarantine based on the instructions supplied by the Health Ministry.
The death toll in China from the deadly coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan rose to at least 361 on Monday, as the Philippines became the first country outside China to confirm a death from the infection.
The total number of people infected with the virus rose to 17,205 across China, after 2,829 new cases were reported.
Other countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan and Hubei, while many have also imposed extraordinary travel restrictions on travelers to and from China.
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