Iran reports 5,924 COVID-19 cases, 1,280,438 in total

Iran's health ministry reported 5,924 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,280,438.

The pandemic has so far claimed 56,100 lives in Iran, up by 82 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

Of the newly infected, 456 were hospitalized, said Lari.

A total of 1,067,466 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,686 remain in intensive care units, she added.

According to the spokeswoman, 8,099,191 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Saturday.

Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19, 2020.

Iran and China offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In mid-February 2020, 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 delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. Later on Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )