Iran on Thursday announced 157 new deaths from coronavirus, raising the official number of fatalities to 2,234, as it slapped a ban on intercity travel to try to curb the spread.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also said that 2,389 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of declared infections in one of the world's wost-hit countries to 29,406.
"Fortunately, until today 10,457 of those infected have recovered and been discharged from hospitals," he told a news conference.
Jahanpour said that the spread of the new coronavirus and its rate of infection was "growing steadily" in Iran.
The Islamic republic imposed strict new containment measures Thursday, after weeks of public appeals largely failed to prevent hundreds of thousands of