107-year-old Iranian woman beats coronavirus

Iran has been hard hit by the virus but has begun to reopen even with cases hovering close to 2,000 a day

An Iranian sanitary worker disinfects Qom's Masumeh shrine on February 25, 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. AFP

Iranian Firefighters disinfect streets in the capital Tehran in a bid to halt the wild spread of coronavirus on March 13, 2020. AFP

A nearly empty Hazrat Masumeh Shrine in Qom, Iran on March 1, 2020. AFP

Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi (left) wipes the sweat off his face, during a press conference with the Islamic republic's government spokesman Ali Rabiei in the capital Tehran on February 24, 2020. AFP

An image grab of footage obtained from Iranian State TV IRINN on February 25, 2020, shows Iran's deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi speaking in a video apparently shot by himself, regarding being infected with coronavirus. AFP

Iran's Azadi (Freedom) Tower is lit up with flags and messages of hope in solidarity with all the countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic, in Tehran on March 31, 2020. AFP

Iranian workers set up a makeshift hospital inside the Iran Mall, northwest of Tehran, on March 21, 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak. - Iran said that 123 more people had died from coronavirus, raising the official death toll to 1,556 in the Islamic republic, one of the world's worst affected countries. AFP

Volunteers wearing protective clothing, take part in disinfecting a village during the coronavirus outbreak, in the outskirts of the city of Ghaemshahr, in north of Iran, on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. AP Photo

Shoppers clad in protective gear, including face masks and shields and latex gloves, due to the coronavirus pandemic, walk through the Tajrish Bazaar in Iran's capital Tehran on April 25, 2020. AFP

A customer wears a protective masks at a pharmacy in the Iranian capital Tehran on February 24, 2020. AFP

A Tehran Municipality worker cleans a bus to avoid the spread of Covid-19 on February 26, 2020. AFP

A man stands by the closed gate outside the Imamzadeh Saleh in the Iranian capital Tehran's Shemiran district on April 25, 2020 . AFP

Labourers unloading medical equipment and coronavirus testing kits provided by the World Health Organisation, from a UAE military transport plane upon their arrival at Mehrabad International Airport in Iran's capital Tehran. AFP

A 107-year-old Iranian woman who became infected with the novel coronavirus has recovered, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

The woman, Saltanat Akbari, was admitted to the Khansari hospital in the central city of Arak. She was discharged from the hospital after spending "some time" in isolation.

"She defeated the virus with the help of doctors and nurses at the hospital," Fars reported.

Iran is the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, with 133,521 cases and 7,359 deaths.

However, an official parliamentary report last month suggested the true number could be many times higher than the official toll due to issues with testing and a slow initial response.

Iran said last week that 10,000 doctors and nurses contracted the virus as it ravaged the country.

Coronavirus around the Middle East 

With restrictions on leaving the house and a mass mobilisation of the military and civilian medical services, Iran began bringing the daily increase in numbers down.

However, after bringing the number down to below 1,000 new cases a day, the numbers have again risen to close to 2,000 a day with outbreaks and pockets of the virus outside urban centres and in border provinces.

Ten out of Iran's 31 provinces are now in the virus "containment stage", said President Hassan Rouhani in a televised virus taskforce meeting.

This stage calls for intensified screening to "separate those infected from others", he added, claiming the ratio of deaths to infections has dropped steadily across Iran.

Despite the rise in new cases, Iran has moved to ease some restrictions. Mr Rouhani said museums and historical sites would reopen to the public on Sunday. Shrines would open on Monday.

He last week announced the limited reopening of holy sites after Eid Al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.

The shrines would be open for only six hours a day while observing health protocols, he said at the time.

Iran in mid-March closed four main Shiite shrines including Imam Reza in Mashhad, Fatima Masumeh and Jamkaran mosques in Qom and Shah Abdol Azim in Tehran.

Rouhani added that all government employees working from home must return to their offices on May 30.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 1,869 new positive tests for coronavirus between Friday and Saturday had raised the country's tally to 133,521.

Ten provinces had reported no new deaths, while six declared one fatality each.

According to Mr Rouhani, 88 percent of Iran's Covid-19 victims were those with underlying health issues.