TEHRAN, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry reported 7,820 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the total nationwide number to 612,772.
The pandemic has so far claimed 34,846 lives in Iran, up by 386 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 481,930 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,185 remain in intensive care units, she added.
According to the spokeswoman, 4,929,005 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Saturday.
Currently, the risk of infection is high in 27 Iranian provinces, Lari noted. Iranian coronavirus taskforce on Saturday announced the extension of restrictive measures in high-risk areas.
Following the COVID-19 resurgence in Iran over the past month, the health authorities have reintroduced strict protective measures and compulsory use of face masks in the capital Tehran and other major cities of the country.
Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19. Enditem
