TEHRAN, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran reported 2,705 new COVID-19 patients overnight on Tuesday, raising the total number in the country to 407,353, according to the health ministry.
During the past 24 hours, 1,299 Iranians were hospitalized for complications from the novel coronavirus, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.
The pandemic has so far claimed 23,453 lives in Iran, up by 140 in the past 24 hours, she added.
Besides, 349,984 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals while 3,811 remain in intensive care units.
As of Tuesday, 3,613,891 COVID-19 lab tests have been carried out in Iran, the spokeswoman noted.
She said 13 Iranian provinces are still in high-risk 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.
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
