Iran's virus death toll rises by 120 to hit 9,185

TEHRAN

Iran on Wednesday confirmed 120 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 9,185.

Iran's daily number of COVID-19 fatalities decreased to under 100 in mid-April and recorded as 34 on May 25, but daily figures have shown an upward trend in last four days after authorities took measures to ease restrictions.

Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said a further 2,612 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 195,051.

A total of 154,812 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, he said, adding that 2,789 remain at hospitals in critical conditions.

Over 1.31 million tests have been done in the country to date, Lari said.

After emerging last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

There are more than 8.19 million confirmed infections globally and an excess of 444,200 deaths, with over 3.97 million recoveries.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara