TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran extended restrictions in the capital for another week in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 28,000 people in the country.

Tehran’s Governor General Anoushiravan Mohseni-Bandpey said on Friday that the restrictions imposed in the capital have been extended to October 16.

Mohseni-Bandpey added that wearing mask will be mandatory in the capital from Saturday, ISNA reported.

After declining for weeks, the deaths and infections have been on the rise in Iran since the beginning of September.

The worsening situation caused authorities to reimpose restrictive measures in Tehran Province from October 3.

Under the new set of restrictions, universities, boarding schools, seminaries, language schools, vocational schools, educational institutions, libraries, mosques, museums, theaters, zoos, theme parks, aqua parks, swimming pools, banquet halls, wedding venues, coffee shops, teahouses and hair salons must shut down from all days of the week.

The restrictions are largely the same as those taken earlier during the pandemic by Iran, which has so far stopped short of imposing a full lockdown.

They had been progressively eased from April to avoid deepening an economic crisis precipitated by the reimposition of heavy sanctions by the United States in 2018.

According to the Health Ministry, Iran registered 4,142 new coronavirus cases from Thursday to Friday, with the total number of identified cases in the worst-hit country in the West Asia rising to 492,378.

Of the new cases detected since Thursday, 1,787 patients have been admitted to the hospitals across the country, ministry’s spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.

Among those undergoing treatment in medical centers at present, 4,392 coronavirus patients have critical health conditions, Lari noted.

At least 401,379 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far or have been discharged from hospitals across Iran, the spokeswoman said.

She added that 210 patients died from Thursday to Friday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 28,098.

On Wednesday, Iran hit its highest number of daily deaths from the coronavirus, with 239 new fatalities.