Iran's COVID-19 fatalities top 9,000

By Muhammet Kursun

TEHRAN (AA) - Iran on Tuesday confirmed 115 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 9,065.

A further 2,563 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 192,439, Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said.

A total of 152,675 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, he said, adding that 2,810 remain at hospitals in critical conditions.

Some 1.29 million tests have been done in the country to date, Lari said.

Iran's daily number of COVID-19 cases dropped to around 800 in early May, but since authorities eased restrictions, daily figures have shown an upward trend, especially in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

After emerging last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

There are more than 8.05 million confirmed infections globally and an excess of 437,200 deaths, with over 3.88 million recoveries.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg in Ankara