Iran reports over 180 more virus fatalities

By Muhammet Kursun

TEHRAN (AA) – Iran reported 183 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus on Friday, raising the nationwide death toll to 13,791.

A further 2,379 people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall count to 269,440, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.

She said a total of 232,873 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, while 3,509 patients remain in critical condition.

Khuzestan, Razavi Khorasan, East and West Azerbaijan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Bushehr, and Hormozgan are the provinces with highest incidence of coronavirus cases.

The capital Tehran, Fars, Kerman, Alborz, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyer-Ahmad provinces are among the high-risk regions.

Since originating in China last December, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 590,600 lives in 188 countries and regions.

Over 13.83 million cases have been reported worldwide, while over 7.73 million patients have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg