Coronavirus Update: 358,900 Infections, 20,600 Deaths

EghtesadOnline: As of Sunday, Iran has recorded a total of 358,905 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 20,643 fatalities, health officials announced.

News ID: ۷۵۰۷۸۹

24 August 2020

“SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, claimed the lives of 141 patients within a 24-hour period, and infected 2,113,” Health Ministry’s Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari was quoted as saying by ISNA.

The Health Ministry announced on Sunday that seven of Iran’s 31 provinces, including Tehran, are still seeing increasing coronavirus numbers.

With the last of university entrance exams concluding on Saturday, Iran now prepares to face a litany of challenges during the next few weeks, from mourning ceremonies and holiday travels, to school and university reopenings, all ahead of the influenza season, which will for the first time coincide with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pointing to the possibility of a “tough autumn”, Health Minister Saeed Namaki on Sunday said, “Well-developed online educational infrastructure gives us the courage and the power to keep education alive while making efforts to contain the outbreak.”

Schools are scheduled to reopen in less than two weeks and provinces on red alert might move classes online.

Iran has carried out over three million diagnostic tests to track infections, Lari said.

According to the spokeswoman, nearly 310,000 have recovered from the infectious disease and 3,840 are hospitalized in intensive care units in critical condition.

Covid-19 has infected 23.4 million people across the world and caused the deaths of 810,000.