Iran’s death toll from the pandemic coronavirus has increased to 988, with 135 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry spokesman told state TV on Tuesday.
“The death toll is 988 … with 1,178 new infected people in the past 24 hours, now the total number of infected cases is 16,169 across the country,” said Kianush Jahanpur.
Jahanpur added that 5,389 people infected with the virus have recovered.
Iran reported its first confirmed coronavirus cases on Feb. 19, 2020 in Qom.
As of 14 March 2020, according to Iranian health authorities, there had been 611 COVID-19 deaths in Iran with more than 12,500 confirmed infections.
As of the same date, Iran has the third highest number of COVID-19 deaths after Mainland China and Italy, the highest in Western Asia and the third-highest number of cases, surpassed only by Mainland China and Italy.
