Coronavirus COVID-19: Iran and South Korea deploy military

It is Mar 3, 2020, and the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak is growing. China, Iran, Italy and South Korea are the countries that are most affected (most confirmed cases).

Iranian state TV is citing a member of Iran's parliament saying that 23 lawmakers are infected with the new coronavirus. The legislator is urging colleagues to avoid contact with the public. Iran has more than 2,500 confirmed cases. Iranian authorities initially played down the extent of the virus, but now say they're mobilizing the military to tackle it. With 77 deaths, Iran has the highest death toll outside China. Iran's supreme leader put the country on war footing Tuesday against the new coronavirus by ordering its armed forces to assist health officials in combating the outbreak. Iranian authorities said Tuesday they had plans to potentially mobilize 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus.

The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi on Monday makes him the highest-ranking official within Iran’s leadership to be killed by the virus.

The virus earlier killed Hadi Khosroshahi, Iran’s former ambassador to the Vatican, as well as a recently elected member of parliament.

Saudi Arabia recently halted travel to Mecca, Medina over coronavirus.

More details here:
https://www.france24.com/en/20200303-iran-to-mobilise-army-against-coronavirus-as-death-toll-reaches-77

South Korea has recorded its biggest single day jump with over 850 new cases. More than 5,000 people are infected there now, prompting the President to declare his country is at war with the coronavirus.

In South Korea, A certain "super-spreader" from a reclusive church has caused anger, divided public opinion and spurred conspiracy theories.

It appears that there is a single "super-spreader" known as "patient 31". This is a member of a fringe church called Shincheonji. This person is thought to have caused the rapid rise in cases. Now, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has filed a formal complaint against the congregation, accusing it of murder.

In South Korea, at least 29 people have died in the outbreak and more than 4,800 people formally diagnosed with the virus as of March 3.

Epidemiologists said, "Before patient 31, our strategies to contain the virus were working. But after countless people were infected by patient 31, it became very difficult to control."

More details here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/31-south-korea-sudden-spike-coronavirus-cases-200303065953841.html

In all, more than 3,100 patients have died of COVID-19, with the majority of those in China. But the number of patients who have recovered so far from the virus worldwide is over 48,000.

Interesting Detailed Maps: Confirmed Cases by Country/Region:
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Confirmed Cases by Country/Region

80,151 Mainland China
5,186 South Korea
2,336 Iran
2,036 Italy
706 Others
283 Japan
204 France
188 Germany
153 Spain
110 Singapore
106 US
100 Hong Kong
56 Kuwait
51 UK
49 Bahrain
47 Switzerland
43 Thailand
42 Taiwan
39 Australia
36 Malaysia
32 Norway
27 Canada
26 Iraq
24 Netherlands
21 Sweden
21 United Arab Emirates
21 Austria
16 Vietnam
13 Belgium
13 Lebanon
12 Israel
12 Oman
11 Iceland
10 San Marino
10 Macau
9 Croatia
7 Qatar
7 Ecuador
7 Greece
6 Denmark
6 Finland
5 Czech Republic
5 Algeria
5 India
5 Pakistan
5 Mexico
3 Georgia
3 Philippines
3 Russia
3 Romania
3 Azerbaijan
2 Indonesia
2 Brazil
2 Portugal
2 Egypt
1 Afghanistan
1 Lithuania
1 Nepal
1 Luxembourg
1 Andorra
1 Saudi Arabia
1 Ireland
1 Nigeria
1 Senegal
1 Jordan
1 Armenia
1 Dominican Republic
1 Ukraine
1 Estonia
1 North Macedonia
1 Morocco
1 Cambodia
1 Monaco
1 Belarus
1 New Zealand
1 Latvia
1 Sri Lanka