Worrying videos show worshippers defying health advice not to kiss or touch shrines, which is a common practice in Iran (Picture: Twitter)

Shocking footage has emerged showing Iranian worshippers licking shrines in defiance of a killer coronavirus outbreak.

Officials have confirmed 978 cases in Iran and 54 deaths, the highest death toll of any country outside China. But religious leaders continue reject advice from the Health Ministry to close holy sites to help stop the spread of infection.

Worrying videos posted to social media show worshippers saying they ‘don’t care what happens’ and ‘I am not scared of coronavirus’. A child is even hailed for licking a shrine in the northern city of Qom, which has become the epicentre for the Iranian outbreak.



Journalist Masih Alinejed shared the videos and said the Iranian regime is ‘endangering the lives of Iranians and the world’ by keeping the holy sites open.


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An Iranian worshipper says he does not care what happens if he licks the shrine (Picture: AlinejadMasih)

A child is hailed for licking the shrine in defiance of coronavirus health advice (Picture: AlinejadMasih)

Another worshipper licks a shrine in the city of Qom (Picture: AlinejadMasih)

Touching and kissing surfaces in shrines is a common practice for pilgrims, and religious hardliners argue the holy sites of Qom are a ‘a place for healing’.

But many Iranians are worried the clerical establishment is not taking the outbreak seriously, while Iranian health workers have reportedly admitted the number of people that have died from coronavirus could be five times more than government figures claim.

The government has not locked down Qom but has imposed broad restrictions such as limitations on who is allowed in and out of the city.

Retired teacher Ziba Rezaie, 62, from Qom, said: ‘The smell of disinfectants has become my nightmare.

‘The city smells like a cemetery, a morgue.’

Officials try to disinfect the shrines which pilgrims often touch and lick (Picture: Getty)

The outbreak of coronavirus in Iran is the worst outside of mainland China (Picture: AFP)

Samar, 38, from the city of Shiraz, said: ‘We have not left the house for a week. Children have online classes. Only my husband leaves the house for shopping and for work.’

The head of the World Health Organisation’s emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, warned Iran may be dealing with an outbreak that is worse than yet understood.

Authorities announced Iran’s first infections and two deaths from the virus on February 19.

Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, have repeatedly dismissed concerns raised by many Iranians over the handling of the outbreak, saying all the necessary measures to overcome the crisis have been taken.

Some doctors and nurses said hospitals in Tehran, Qom and Rasht city were overloaded.

‘Hospitals are full of infected people. We hear about hundreds of deaths,’ said a doctor in Tehran, who asked not to be named. ‘We need more hospitals. The death toll will rise.’

The Health Ministry has ordered hospitals to admit only infected people and those patients who need immediate care.

Dozens of military-run hospitals have been allocated to treat the infected people.

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