Iran has dug two football-field-sized trenches to bury coronavirus victims, according to satellite images.

Work on the mass grave at the Behesht-e Masoumeh cemetery in Qom began on February 21 – just days after the first case was recorded in the country.

More than 10,000 cases have been confirmed, with 420 deaths recorded.

The Washington Post reports "more than 250 coronavirus victims" have already been buried at the site.

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A satellite picture of the mass grave site. (Twitter)

This comes after dozens of bodies sheathed in black bags were seen lining the floor of an Iranian morgue, while workers in protective suits and masks busily walk among them.

Under Islamic tradition in Iran, corpses are typically washed with soap and water before burial.

But two medical workers in Qom told CNN that in some cases precautions related to the outbreak are preventing staff from observing traditional Islamic guidelines for burial.

Instead, they said the bodies of those confirmed to have coronavirus at the time of death are being treated with calcium oxide, to prevent them from contaminating the soil once buried in cemeteries.

Testing for the virus takes time, delaying burials and creating a "pile up" of bodies at the morgue, said Behesht-e Masoumeh morgue director, Ali Ramezani, in a report on Iranian state TV, IRIB.

An Iranian sanitary worker disinfects a shrine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Over 100 people have now died from the virus in Iran. (FARS NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty I)

"What we are dealing with is how to handle the bodies of coronavirus victims versus non-coronavirus victims as the instructions for burial are different," said Ramezani.

He added: "Some families prefer that we keep their deceased, for a day or two, until their test results are completed.

"And if the results come back negative, then there is no need to treat the deceased according to guidelines outlined for coronavirus victims, and the family can bury the deceased wherever they have planned to bury them."

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Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to fight the coronavirus in a staggering admission of how fragile its economy has become amid the epidemic and punishing US sanctions.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the Washington-based IMF should "stand on right side of history & act responsibly" by releasing the funds, in request marking a first since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

A commuter looks through a water-stained window wearing a mask and gloves to help guard against the Coronavirus, on a public bus in downtown Tehran, Iran, February 2020. (AP)

He also said the fight against the virus, which has infected more than 10,000 people in Iran and killed hundreds, has been "stymied by vast shortages caused by restrictions," a reference to the US sanctions.

Iran says it needs more N95 face masks, ventilators, surgical gowns, testing kits, portable digital X-ray machines and other medical supplies.

The World Health Organization recently sent Iran a shipment of medical gear via cargo plane, including 1,100 kits that can test more than 105,000 people for the virus.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 75 people had died in Iran in the past 24 hours from the coronavirus, pushing the death toll to 429.

The number of Iranians with the COVID-19 disease was 10,075.

There are concerns that the number of infections is much higher than the confirmed cases reported by the government, with some Iranian lawmakers even speaking out.

The outbreak has not spared Iran's top officials, with its senior vice president, Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials among those infected .

A worker disinfects subway trains against coronavirus in Tehran, Iran, February 26, 2020. (AP)

Iran has suspended schools and banned spectators from stadiums, but religious shrines remain open and the markets and streets of the capital, Tehran, which has been hit hardest by the virus, are still crowded.

The head of Tehran's task force for combating the virus, Ali Reza Zali, said most people in the capital are not treating the crisis seriously enough and many are not taking any preventive measures.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday urged Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces, to form a health and treatment task-force for the epidemic.

In Iran, at least 429 have died from coronavirus related complications. (AP)

President Hassan Rouhani's government has faced criticism for not being out front on the response to the virus.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Iran and China, where the virus first appeared, of censorship and of trying to cover up the severity of its spread.