TEHRAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran recorded 200 death cases from COVID-19 within the past 24 hours on Tuesday, the highest daily number of deaths since the outbreak of the disease in the country in February.
With the new fatalities, the death toll rose to 11,931, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily update.
Over the past 24 hours, 2,637 new infections were registered, taking the total confirmed novel coronavirus cases to 245,688, according to Lari.
Among the new patients, 1,455 were hospitalized.
So far, there have been 207,000 recoveries, while 3,270 still remain in critical condition, she said.
According to the health spokeswoman, 1,846,739 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Tuesday.
She said that 20 provinces are either at high risk or on alert condition over the disease.
The Iranian health officials have made it mandatory to wear face masks in indoor public places to prevent virus contraction. They have also ramped up measures for restoration of restrictions in high-risk areas.
Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.
Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China.
In return, China delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Enditem
