TEHRAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 257,303 on Sunday after an overnight registration of 2,186 new infections, state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing that out of the new cases in the past 24 hours, 1,499 have been hospitalized.
The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of 12,829 Iranians, up by 194 in the past 24 hours.
Besides, 219,993 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals while 3,359 remain in critical condition.
According to Lari, 1,972,207 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Sunday.
The Iranian health official said that 14 provinces are either in high-risk or alert condition.
Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.
Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem
