On 23 February 2020, Turkey announced that it would “temporarily” close its land border with Iran as fear grows over an increase of new coronavirus infections.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told to reporters, “We have decided to shut the land border temporarily after an increase in the number of cases in our neighbor Iran.”
In the past 24 hours, Iran reported three more novel coronavirus deaths among 15 new cases. Officially, the total number of death for coronavirus infections in Iran is 8 while 43 people are infected. Iran suffers highest death toll from the virus outside of China. The center of outbreak in Iran is the holy city of Qom and officials say travelers from China transmitted it in Qom.
Meanwhile, according to Chinese officials, 97 deaths and 648 new infections were registered on 23 February 2020 alone. According to various media report, at least 2,442 people died in China by this new coronavirus and 80,000 people are infected worldwide.
Iran’s other neighbors like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have already taken preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus from Iranian travelers. Iran’s another neighbor Armenia also announced closing border and air traffic with Iran for two weeks.
On the other hand, South Korea raised the nation’s alert to its “highest” level. Currently, 602 persons are infected with new coronavirus in South Korea.