TEHRAN

Iran on Friday confirmed 120 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 9,392. 

Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said a further 2,615 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 200,262.

A total of 159,192 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, he said, adding that 2,833 remain at hospitals in critical conditions.

Over 1.37 million tests have been conducted in the country to date, Lari said.

Iran sees an upward trend in daily infections in many provinces, especially in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

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 8.5 million confirmed infections globally and an excess of 454,300 deaths, with over 4.17 million recoveries.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara