TEHRAN, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran has started producing antiviral drug favipiravir for the first time in the country to treat COVID-19 patients, Ali Akbar Velayati, head of Iran's Masih Daneshvari Hospital, was quoted as saying by Press TV on Monday.
"Fortunately, favipiravir was produced for the first time at Shahid Beheshti Medical University's School of Pharmacy and has been made available to Masih Daneshvari Hospital ... to be used for treatment of coronavirus patients," Velayati said.
Velayati, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader, made the remarks in a meeting with the medical staff of the hospital on Sunday.
On Monday, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education updated the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country to 60,500, of whom 3,739 have died.
