Iran Arrests One Person over Coronavirus 'Fake' Video

Iranian police on Thursday said they arrested one person for allegedly posting online a "fake" video about the hospitalization of a patient contaminated by coronavirus.

"The posting of this fake video clip, which was widely shared (on social networks) has sparked concern among the population," the police said in a statement on their website.

According to the police, the suspect suggested "that an individual contaminated by coronavirus was hospitalized in Kurdistan" in western Iran.

Initial findings indicated the suspect made the video for "entertainment" purposes, the police said.

The novel coronavirus outbreak, which began in late December, has claimed more than 560 lives, infected some 28,000 people in mainland China and spread to more than 20 countries.

On Wednesday Iranian Health Minister Said Namaki said on Twitter that 57 students had returned home from the Chinese industrial city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, and were all "in good health".

A ministry official, quoted by official news agency IRNA, said the students have been placed in quarantine for two weeks.