Iran temporarily releases 54,000 prisoners for coronavirus

The Iran released more than 54,000 prisoners temporarily on Tuesday, 3, in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the crowded country chains. All released prisoners were tested for the disease.

Prisoners who are kept under special security regimes or serve sentences longer than five years have not received the benefit of temporary withdrawal, according to the Iranian judiciary

Last week, the family of British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, arrested in Iran since 2016 on espionage charges, said they suspected the woman had a coronavirus. The Reuters news agency official said she had a very bad cold and a little fever.

Iran's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad, explained that Ratcliffe is in good health. According to the BBC broadcaster, she may be released soon.

More than 90,000 cases of Covid-19 have been detected worldwide, in addition to 3,110 deaths since the epidemic began late last year. In Iran, the outbreak has killed at least 77 people in the past two weeks. Among the infected citizens are 23 of the 290 members of Parliament.