Iran reports highest daily death toll from coronavirus in more than two months

Iran reports 120 new deaths from coronavirus over the past 24 hours, hitting the highest single-day death toll in more than two months.

The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, Sima Lari, said in a press conference on Wednesday that the new deaths took Iran’s death toll to 9,185.

She added that another 2,612 people had tested positive over the past day, which put the total number of infected one to 195,051.

The official said that 154,812 people had recovered and were discharged from hospitals, while 2,789 patients were receiving treatment at intensive care units. So far, 1,319,920 diagnostic tests have also been conducted in the country, according to the official.

Lari said that the provinces of Khuzestan, East Azerbaijan, Razavi Khorasan, Kermanshah, Hormozgan and Kordestan remained in the red category with a high-risk of infection rate.

Separately on Wednesday, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi warned that the number of infections with the novel coronavirus is not expected to decline during the summer as hot weather was unlikely to halt the epidemic.

“Get rid of the idea that coronavirus has weakened, as the disease will definitely continue into the summer, and we need to be prepared to deal with it under any circumstances,” he said during a visit to a health center in Sanandaj, the capital of Kordestan province, which is among the three hardest-hit provinces.

Harirchi said that gatherings in high-risk provinces, including Kordestan, have led to a spike in infections.

“The main cause of increased infections has been holding gatherings such as weddings and funerals,” he said.

He strongly advised all people to wear masks in public places and when leaving their homes. On Tuesday, another health ministry official called for restoration of the strict restrictions that were eased.

“The coronavirus epidemic is on the rise, and the Ministry of Health is urging that social restrictions and strictures on health protocols be restored through a smart mechanism,” Ali-Akbar Haqdoust noted.

He added that the public needed to more strictly follow health protocols and social distancing to help further contain the virus.