TEHRAN

Iran on Thursday confirmed 87 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 9,272.

Iran's daily number of COVID-19 fatalities dropped under 100 for the first time after the last four days.

Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said a further 2,596 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 197,647.

A total of 156,991 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, he said, adding that 2,795 remain at hospitals in critical conditions.

Over 1.34 million tests have been conducted in the country to date, Lari said.

After emerging last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

There are more than 8.36 million confirmed infections globally and an excess of 449,200 deaths, with over 4.08 million recoveries.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara.