Iran temporarily frees 100,000 prisoners to limit spread of Coronavirus

A total of 100,000 inmates have been temporarily freed from Iranian prisons as of Sunday to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, a judiciary spokesman has said. "As of now, around 100,000 have been released," Gholamhossein Esmaili said in a televised announcement.

President Hassan Rouhani ordered on Tuesday to extend the leave from prison until April 20. The number of those freed has doubled from 54,000 released in early March. Iran is one of the world's worst-hit countries, with more than 38,300 infection cases and 2,640 deaths. Over 12,300 COVID-19 patients have recovered since the country reported its first case on February 19.