Authorities say 12 people have died in Iran from coronavirus, but local media reports have quoted a local official saying as many as 50 people have died in the Iranian city of Qom.

Key points: South Korea reported 231 new cases taking total infections to 833

South Korea reported 231 new cases taking total infections to 833 A fifth person infected with the coronavirus died in Italy

A fifth person infected with the coronavirus died in Italy Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan imposed travel restrictions on Iran

A parliamentarian representing Qom, Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, said on Monday 50 people had died in the city in the past two weeks from coronavirus, noting the Government was late in announcing the outbreak and that the city did not have adequate equipment to deal with the health crisis, Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency reported.

But Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said on Monday that 12 people had died and up to 61 had been infected with the new coronavirus in Iran.

Mr Harirchi said in a news conference on state television that if the number of dead in Qom were even one quarter of 50 he would resign.

Mr Farahani, was quoted in ILNA saying more than 250 people were quarantined in the city, a popular place of religious study for Shiites from across Iran and other countries.

He said the 50 deaths date as far back as February 13. Iran, however, first officially reported cases of the virus and its first deaths on February 19.

The new coronavirus originated in China sometime around December.

There are concerns clusters in Iran, as well as in Italy and South Korea, could signal a serious new stage in its global spread.

A top World Health Organisation (WHO) official expressed concerns on Monday over the virus's spread.

"We are specially concerned about the rapid increase in cases in … Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Sweden via video link.

"The number of cases in those countries has increased significantly in the last two to three days."

Iraq's health ministry on Monday announced the country's first coronavirus case — and Iranian theology student — had been detected in the holy city of Najaf.

The patient entered Iraq before the Government halted border crossings and banned the entry of non-Iraqis coming from Iran.

South Korea reported 231 new cases, taking total infections to 833, health authorities said on Monday, a day after raising its infectious disease alert to the highest level.

South Korea reported 231 new cases taking total infections to 833. ( ABC News: Brant Cumming )

It also reported the seventh and eighth deaths from the disease in the country, both from a hospital in Cheongdo, a county where confirmed cases surged in recent weeks, along with nearby Daegu.

A fifth person infected with coronavirus died in Italy, officials said on Monday.

More than 200 people have come down with the virus since Friday, latest data showed, the vast majority of them in the wealthy northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.

Authorities across the north have shut schools, universities, museums and cinemas for at least a week, and banned public gatherings, including the famed Venice carnival.

Kuwait report first cases originating in Iran

The virus spread rapidly over the past few days as Iranians went to the polls on Friday for nationwide parliamentary elections ( AP: Vahid Salemi )

Authorities in Iran have closed schools across much of the country for a second day as neighbouring countries shut their borders to Iranian citizens following reported infections from Iranian travellers.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan imposed travel and immigration restrictions on Iran.

The number of deaths compared to the number of confirmed infections from the virus is higher in Iran than in any other country, including China and South Korea, where the outbreak is far more widespread.

Kuwait announced on Monday its first cases of the virus, saying three travellers returning from the north-eastern city of Mashhad, Iran were confirmed as infected.

Iran, however, has not yet reported any confirmed cases of the virus in Mashhad, raising questions about how the Government is carrying out tests and quarantines.

Iran has confirmed cases so far in five cities, including the capital, Tehran. A local mayor in Tehran is among those infected and in quarantine.

Kuwait has been evacuating roughly 750 citizens from Iran and testing them as they enter the country after saying Iran had barred its medical workers from testing travellers at an exit terminal in Iran, despite an agreement to do so.

Iranian travellers with the virus have also been confirmed in Canada, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The outbreak in Iran has centred mostly on the city of Qom, but has spread rapidly over the past few days as Iranians went to the polls on Friday for nationwide parliamentary elections, with many voters wearing masks and stocking up on hand sanitiser.

Iran is already facing diplomatic and economic isolation under US pressure. The virus threatens to isolate Iran even further as countries shut their borders.

Soccer fans across the country will not be allowed to attend matches, and shows in movie theatres and other venues have been suspended until Friday.

Authorities have begun daily sanitisation of Tehran's metro — used by 3 million people — and public transportation cars in the city.

More cases appeared in the Middle East with Bahrain reporting its first case, it's state news agency said.

Afghanistan reported its first case on Monday, in the western border province of Herat, again involving someone who had recently been in Iran, officials said.

The WHO has been saying for weeks it dreads the disease reaching countries with weak health systems.

ABC/wires