TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's health ministry reported 4,108 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 508,389.
The pandemic has so far claimed 29,070 lives in Iran, up by 254 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.
A total of 411,840 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,570 remain in intensive care units, she added.
According to the spokeswoman, 4,369,622 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Tuesday.
Currently, the risk of infection is high in 26 Iranian provinces, Lari noted, asking people to avoid unnecessary outings.
Following the COVID-19 resurgence in Iran over the past weeks, the health authorities have reintroduced strict protective measures, including the compulsory use of face masks, in the capital Tehran.
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
