TEHRAN, Iran 

Iran confirmed 349 more coronavirus-related fatalities on Wednesday, raising the nationwide death toll to 73,568, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Some 15,872 more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, pushing the tally to over 2.59 million, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said that a total of 2.03 million patients have so far recovered, while 5,499 remain in critical condition.

In a country with a population of 83 million, more than 16.51 million tests have been administered in Iran to date.

Health authorities have so far administered over 1.35 million coronavirus vaccine jabs in the country.

Iran's 102 provinces have been classified as red zones with a high risk of coronavirus transmission, while 235 have been designated as medium-risk or "orange zones" and 111 as low-risk or "yellow zones”.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara