Iran has registered its first case of a highly contagious coronavirus variant that emerged in Britain after an Iranian arrived from the UK, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said.

At the same time, the health ministry reported that Iran, the country worst hit by the coronavirus in the Middle East, had recorded its lowest daily death toll in nearly seven months.

“Unfortunately, we found the first case of the mutated British Covid-19 from a dear compatriot who had returned from England [...] and who was admitted to one of our private hospitals,” Namaki said, according to Reuters.

“We did not find any trace of this virus in the patient's relatives,” he added.