Iranians urged to take coronavirus 'seriously' as cases stay high May 08, 2020 at 01:11AM

Since reporting its first cases in mid-February, the Islamic republic has struggled to contain the spread of the virus that causes the Covid-19 disease. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 55 new virus fatalities in the past 24 hours took the overall death toll in the health crisis to 6,541.