Iran reports 2,625 new COVID-19 cases, 278,827 in total

Iran on Tuesday recorded 2,625 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 278,827, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education said.

Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the health ministry, said during her daily update that the death toll from the virus in the country rose to 14,634 after 229 new deaths were added.

Out of the new patients, 1,977 were hospitalized, said Lari. So far, there have been 242,351 recoveries, while 3,589 still remain in critical condition, she added.

The health spokeswoman noted that 2,201,958 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Tuesday.

She said 25 out of 31 provinces are either in high-risk or on alert over the disease. 

Iran announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19.