The first two people infected with the novel coronavirus have died in the Middle East.

Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur also confirmed the two deaths on Twitter. “Following reports of recent cases of chronic respiratory illness in Qom, two of the victims tested positive for coronavirus in preliminary tests. Unfortunately, they passed away in intensive care due to old age and problems with their immune systems,” Jahanpur said.

Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, head of the infectious diseases department of Iran's Ministry of Health, said that the two people who died from the coronavirus had never traveled abroad. This further complicates the origin of the spread of the novel coronavirus.

These were also the first deaths from the coronavirus recorded in the Middle East, and the seventh and eighth outside mainland China – where the outbreak has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people.

The state news agency IRNA reported that medical teams were deployed after receiving the information. Based on established procedures, suspected cases and those who had been in contact with the two deceased were isolated and tested.

Huong Thao