Iran frees 54,000 prisoners to combat coronavirus

Iran has temporarily released more than 54,000 prisoners in an effort to combat the spread of the new coronavirus disease in crowded jails.

© AFP The outbreak of Covid-19 in Iran has killed at least 77 people in less than two weeks

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters that the inmates were granted furlough after testing negative for Covid-19 and posting bail.

"Security prisoners" sentenced to more than five years will not be let out.

The jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be freed soon, according to a British MP.

Tulip Siddiq cited the Iranian ambassador to the UK as saying that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe "may be released on furlough today or tomorrow".

(2/2) If this furlough happens, the British government have an obligation to make it permanent, and not let her be used as a bargaining chip in the weeks to come. I remain concerned that Nazanin has told her family that she has still not been tested for coronavirus. #FreeNazanin

— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 3, 2020

Her husband said on Saturday that he believed she had contracted Covid-19 and that the prison authorities were refusing to test her.

But Mr Esmaili insisted on Monday that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had subsequently been in contact with her family and "told them about her good health".

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Iran's Covid-19 outbreak has killed at least 77 people in less than two weeks.

On Monday, the number of confirmed cases rose by 50% for the second day in a row. It now stands at 2,336, although the real figure is believed to far higher.

A number of senior Iranian officials have contracted the virus. Among the latest is the head of the emergency medical services, Pirhossein Kolivand.