TEHRAN, Iran

Iran confirmed 476 more coronavirus-related fatalities on Thursday, raising the nationwide death toll to 43,417, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Some 13,223 more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, pushing the tally up to 815,117, ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.

She added that a total of 583,704 patients have recovered so far, while 5,729 remain in critical condition.

Lari warned that all of Iran's 31 provinces have been declared red zones with a high risk of coronavirus transmission.

Iran has been struggling to contain the pandemic since February when the first cases were confirmed in the city of Qom.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara