TEHRAN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of novel coronavirus in Iran rose to 2,234 on Thursday with 157 new fatalities, the ministry of health said.
Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, also announced 2,389 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 29,406.
Jahanpur said 10,457 have recovered.
More than 50 million Iranians have been screened online for the virus as of Thursday, he added.
Despite the increasing number of infections in some of the provinces, Iran's health system has been able to control its spread, Jahanpur noted.
Earlier in the day, Iran announced the implementation of a social distancing plan for one week starting Friday.
The plan includes further restrictions of the inter-city travels, the closure of public places like parks, swimming pools and entertaining centers, a ban on gatherings and reducing work hours of civil servants.
Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
