Video shows Iran's deputy health minister coming down with coronavirus at a press conference

Ashley Collman

February 25, 2020 3:40 PM

A video shows the moment that Iran's deputy health minister started coming down with coronavirus at a press conference on Monday.

iraj harirchi 1

The press conference was held to dispel claims that the death count in Iran is much higher than is being reported.
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Iran's deputy health minister announced Tuesday that he had tested positive for coronavirus, and a video actually shows the moment that he started to notice his symptoms.

Iraj Harirchi stood at the podium during a press conference on Monday to brief the media on the current state of the outbreak in the Middle Eastern country.

At one point, Harirchi starts to notice himself sweating, and seems surprised. He then grabs a handkerchief and proceeds to dab at his forehead as Ali Rabiei, the minister for cooperatives, labor and social welfare, continued to talk next to him.

The press conference was organized to dispel the idea that Iran has been lying about the scale of the outbreak.

The officials rejected claims that the death toll was much higher than reported and sought to downplay the danger of the outbreak.

As of Tuesday, Iranian officials said there have been 95 confirmed cases and 15 deaths.

In a video posted by the FARS News Agency on Tuesday, Harirchi admitted that he had tested positive for the virus and said that he was self-quarantining at home. He said that authorities would be successful in reigning the virus in.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the nation on Tuesday and called coronavirus an "uninvited and inauspicious guest."

"We will get through corona," Rouhani said. "We will get through the virus."

The coronavirus has infected more than 80,000, with most of the cases concentrated in China. More than 2,600 people in China have died, in addition to 33 abroad.