Iran put its armed forces on alert Tuesday to assist health officials in battling the new coronavirus that’s killed at least 77 people, an outbreak that has sickened top officials and pushed even its supreme leader into wearing disposable gloves while trying to reassure the nation. A top emergency official and at least 23 members of parliament reportedly contracted the virus and now suffer from the COVID-19 illness it causes. There are now over 2,540 cases of the new virus across the Mideast, with 2,336 in Iran alone.
