Iran reports 2,501 new coronavirus cases, 338,825 in total

Iran recorded 2,501 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 338,825 on Friday, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced.

   The death toll from the virus in the country rose to 19,331 after 169 new deaths were added overnight, Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the health ministry, said during her daily update.

   Out of the new patients, 1,173 were hospitalized, she said, adding that so far, there have been 293,811 recoveries, while 3,956 still remain in critical condition.

   The health spokeswoman noted that 2,812,488 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Friday.

   She said that out of 31 provinces, 26 are either in high-risk or alert condition over the disease.

   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 has 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.