The Iranian parliament has suspended its public sessions because at least 47 lawmakers have come down with Covid-19 while about a dozen have been hospitalized.

Nezam Mousavi, a member of the presidium, said on Monday that 47 MPs and about 30 employees of the legislative body have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mousavi did not say how many are in hospital but another member of the presidium, Alireza Salimi, had said on Sunday that 10 lawmakers have been hospitalized with complications.

According to senior lawmaker Mojtaba Yousefi, the public sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled, except the two-hour sessions for the budget review committee.

He added that the parliament will hold its sessions in three different groups as of the next week.

Jalas Rashidi Kouchi, another lawmaker, on Sunday criticized parliament members who attended the Saturday session although they had tested positive for the virus.

“No justification is acceptable for endangering the health of others,” he said in a tweet.

Another outbreak among the MPs suspended the parliament for two weeks in April.

Since the start of the pandemic in Iran, several lawmakers and former MPS have died from the coronavirus.

Iran's Health Minister Bahram Einollahi announced the start of the sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday as hospitals report increasing number of referrals related to the highly infectious Omicron variant.