TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran's overall COVID-19 death toll reached 100,255 on Thursday after registering an overnight 564 new death cases, according to Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
Also, 31,266 new COVID-19 cases were reported, taking the country's total infections to 4,587,683.
A total of 3,840,568 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,538 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said.
By Thursday, 16,254,282 people have received at least a dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 5,236,423 have taken two doses.
The reasons for the sheer increase in infection rates since the end of June, health officials say, are the higher contagiousness of the Delta variant of the coronavirus currently spreading in Iran, and a decline in people's awareness of observing health recommendations.
On Monday, Iran started a six-day lockdown of all non-essential businesses across the country amid the resurgence of the Delta variant of the disease.
Iran reported the first cases of COVID-19 in February 2020. Enditem
