“The number of patients infected with omicron in the country has reached 1,162… There were reports of deaths due to omicron in Tabriz, Yazd and Shahrekard, and a critically injured person was transferred to the hospital in Ahvas,” the ministry’s spokesman, Mohammad Hashemi, told Iranian radio and television.
Iranian media had reported that last week, Iran lifted the restrictions imposed on travel by land to and from neighboring countries and some European countries, but it kept the ban on travelers coming from Britain, France and eight countries in southern Africa, due to fears of the mutant Omicron.
Omicron was first discovered by Iran in mid-December, but this was the first time that deaths had been reported.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, COVID-19 has killed more than 132,000 people in Iran, the worst mortality rate in the Middle East.
On August 24 alone, 709 people died of the disease. Experts say the number of deaths has fallen in recent months due to vaccination.
Iran has ramped up vaccinations in recent weeks, and has now reported that more than 53 million Iranians have received a second dose and 12 million have received a third.
Iran has a population of about 85 million people.
.