for a doctor who died of coronavirus.

In Qeshm, protesters block a checkpoint because they

fear letting in clerics coming from an infected area.

And in a cemetery in Qom, a burial is taking place.

The man filming provides commentary.

Qom is the city

where Iran’s first coronavirus cases appeared.

Though authorities expressed little concern for days,

and now, it appears workers are digging trenches

for mass graves.

Iran says at least 237 people have died.

It’s one of the highest death tolls outside of China.

How did this happen?

At key moments officials made serious missteps,

and failed to take protective measures.

On Feb. 19, the first coronavirus deaths

are reported in Iran in the religious city of Qom.

But victims likely contracted the virus

weeks earlier, and in a city full of holy sites

the visitors touch and kiss,

that could have helped spread it.

Iran’s health ministry did ask the city

to close the shrines, but it was never enforced.

So people continued to visit them.

Two days after the deaths in Qom,

Iran held nationwide parliamentary elections.

But out at polling stations,

there was little sign of a nation

on the brink of an epidemic.

No one was wearing gloves or masks,

and there was lots of close contact.

Officials tried in the days that

followed to calm the public.

But their efforts were undercut

by bizarre appearances.

Here’s Iran’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi,

on state TV saying things were under control.

But throughout the presser, he was

sweating, coughing and dismissing common-sense

prevention methods.

Harirchi went on TV a second time that day,

making jokes about proper coughing protocol.

But the next day, Harirchi announced on social media

that he, himself, had contracted the virus.

This shocking turn of events

put Iran’s mismanagement of the epidemic

on international display.

“People in Iran are panicking.”

“Well, now he’s become part of the story

because he’s got the virus.”

President Hassan Rouhani then tried to pin the spreading virus

on Iran’s enemies.

It took officials nine days after the first coronavirus

death to cancel Friday prayers, where large groups

typically gather.

Meanwhile, high-profile cases started appearing.

At least 23 lawmakers

now have the virus.

A vice president announces that she, too,

has the coronavirus — just days prior,

here she is sitting near President Rouhani.

Then on March 1, a close aide of the supreme leader,

Ali Khamenei, dies of coronavirus.

Shortly after, the government ordered all schools

and universities to shut down, and Khamenei

tries to rewrite history.

Iran is finally putting tougher measures in place.

But by letting the virus get out of hand, officials

turned their country into an epicenter.