TEHRAN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iran reached 326,712 on Sunday, with an increase of 2,020 in the past 24 hours, according to the latest official figure.
Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said during her daily briefing that out of the overnight new cases were 961 in hospital.
Meanwhile, 163 COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 18,427, she added.
A total of 284,371 people have recovered from the virus, while 4,022 remain in critical condition, Lari noted.
As of Sunday, 2,686,498 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran.
A total of 15 Iranian provinces are currently at high risk, while 11 others on alert, the spokeswoman said.
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 has 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
