Iran has temporarily released more than 54,000 prisoners in an effort to combat the spread of the new coronavirus disease in crowded jails, the BBC reports.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters the inmates were allowed out of prison after testing negative for Covid-19 and posting bail.

"Security prisoners" sentenced to more than five years will not be let out.

The jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be freed soon, according to a British MP.

There have been more than 90,000 reported cases of Covid-19 worldwide and 3,110 deaths since the disease emerged late last year - the vast majority in China.

The outbreak in Iran has killed at least 77 people in less than two weeks.