By Muhammet Kursun
TEHRAN (AA) – Iran on Friday confirmed 109 additional fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 10,239.
A further 2,628 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 217,724, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.
She added that a total of 177,752 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, adding that 2,914 remain in critical condition.
Over 1.55 million tests have been conducted in the country to date, Lari noted.
After emerging in China last December, the virus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.
The pandemic has killed more than 489,500 people worldwide, with an excess of 9.61 million confirmed cases and over 4.84 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara