TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran said its caseload of novel coronavirus infections passed over 150,000 on Sunday, as the country struggles to contain a recent upward trend.
The government has largely lifted the restrictions it imposed in order to halt a COVID-19 outbreak that first emerged in mid-February.
But the Health Ministry has warned of a potential virus resurgence with new cluster outbreaks in a number of provinces.
Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 2,516 new cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 151,466.
Infections have been on a rising trajectory in the Islamic Republic since hitting a near two-month low on May 2.
Jahanpour said the coronavirus had claimed another 63 lives over the same period, raising the overall toll to 7,797.
He noted that 118,848 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far and have been discharged from the hospital.
Among those undergoing treatment in the hospital at present, 2,527 patients are in critical condition due to a more severe infection, he said.
He also noted that 935,894 coronavirus diagnostic tests have been carried out in Iran so far.
To date, the government has reimposed a lockdown only in the southwestern Khuzestan Province. It remains in the “red zone,” the highest level on Iran’s color-coded scale.
Jahanpour added that the situation of the epidemic in the southwestern province of Khuzestan is critical, while provinces of Isfahan, West, and East Azarbaijan, Lorestan, Kermanshah, Hormuzgan and Sistan, and Baluchestan are in alarming conditions.
He noted that people in the country, especially in the above-mentioned provinces, must follow health protocols set out by the Health Ministry.
More than 6,161,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 globally, and the death toll has exceeded 371,000.
IRNA, Tasnim News Agency, and AFP contributed to this story.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
