Iran reports record daily coronavirus cases

The ministry’s spokeswoman Sima Sadat lari said on Sunday that the number of new positive cases rose by 12,543 to 762,068 from Saturday to Sunday, according to IRNA.

She also put the total number of fatalities from the coronavirus at 41,493 following 459 deaths during the same period across the country which is the hardest-hit in the West Asia region.

Of the new cases detected, 2,544 patients have been admitted to the hospitals across the country, Lari added.

The spokeswoman said among those undergoing treatment in medical centers, 5,666 coronavirus patients have critical health conditions.

At least 558,818 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far or have been discharged from hospitals across Iran, she said.

On Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will impose stricter restrictions from next Saturday to limit the spread the coronavirus in the country, according to Reuters.

The toughest measures – classified by health officials as "red" or level 3 – will be imposed in the capital Tehran and about 100 other towns and cities.

Nonessential businesses and services will be shut and cars will not be allowed to leave or enter the cities, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeisi said in a televised media briefing, according to Reuters.

Iranian health officials have devised a color-coding system that denotes the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Some 150 towns and cities are rated "orange" or level 2, he said. In these, 50 percent of the employees can go to work.

In the towns and cities classified as "red", one-third of employees can go to work whereas in 155 towns, where the rating is "yellow" or level 1, two-thirds of the workforce can work at their workplaces.

"Shutdowns are not limited to jobs, but also include universities, schools and training centers," Rouhani told the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus. "In the red and orange cities, training will take place remotely."

On Friday, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi warned the number of infected and fatalities will double in the coming two weeks.

The government on Tuesday imposed restrictions for one month in major cities requiring all nonessential businesses to close at 6 p.m.

Iran Daily