By Muhammet Kursun
TEHRAN (AA) - Iran on Sunday confirmed 194 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the nationwide death toll to 12,829.
A further 2,186 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 252,720, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.
She added that a total of 219,993 people have so far recovered and been discharged from hospitals, adding that 3,359 patients remain in critical condition.
Iran’s Khuzestan, Razavi Khorasan, West Azerbaijan and Mazandaran provinces are in the red zone, the most serious indicator. The capital Tehran, Fars, Kerman, Alborz, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Golestan, Bushehr, Hormozgan and East Azerbaijan provinces are among the high-risk regions.
Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 565,700 lives in 188 countries and regions.
More than 12.73 million cases have been reported worldwide, while over 7.02 million patients have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.