Iran registers 13,000+ new virus cases, 486 deaths

TEHRAN

Iran confirmed 486 new coronavirus-related fatalities on Monday, taking the nationwide death toll to 41,979, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Some 13,053 more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, pushing the tally up to 775,121, ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.

She added a total of 564,699 patients have recovered so far, while 5,677 remain in critical condition.

Lari warned that all of Iran’s 31 provinces have been declared as red zones with a high risk of coronavirus transmission.

Iran is struggling to contain the pandemic since February, when the first cases were confirmed in the city of Qom.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara