A 23-year-old Iranian female professional futsal player has died from coronavirus in the city of Qom, according to the state-run Rokna news agency.

Elham Sheikhi had been hospitalized since ten days ago and died from coronavirus on Wednesday, Rokna reported.

Sheikhi had played for Iran’s women’s national futsal team. Futsal is a version of football played indoors on a hard court with five players on each team.

Iran continues to suffer from an oubtreak of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. On Thursday, the Health Ministry upped the number of people infected in Iran to 245, with 26 deaths.

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High profile coronavirus cases in Iran

Sheikhi's death is the latest high profile case of coronavirus in Iran.

On Tuesday, the country's deputy minister for health was reported as infected with coronavirus, according to reports from the semi-official news agency ILNA on Tuesday.

Deputy Minister Iraj Harirchi was placed under quarantine, a spokesman for the ministry confirmed. Harirchi had held a press conference on Monday with government spokesman Ali Rabiei, he was seen sweating profusely and coughing, prompting questions as to whether he had contracted the virus.

On the same day, Iranian MP Mahmoud Sadeghi said in a tweet on Tuesday that he tested positive for coronavirus.

An outspoken MP from Tehran, Sadeghi had previously accused the government of “covering up the spread” of the virus.

He also urged health officials to “take the coronavirus seriously” and “gain public confidence by telling the truth.”

Most recently, Iran’s Chairman of the parliament’s National Security Committee was quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency as having announced he has coronavirus on Thursday.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:57 - GMT 06:57