A woman wearing a face mask is seen in a taxi in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 14, 2020. Iran's Health Ministry reported 4,616 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 517,835. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)
TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry reported 4,616 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, raising the total confirmed cases in the country to 517,835.
The pandemic has so far claimed 29,605 lives in Iran, up by 256 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 418,054 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,671 remain in intensive care units, she added.
According to the spokeswoman, 4,426,779 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Thursday.
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 intercity travel bans in some regions of the country and 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
