ANKARA 

At least 165 more coronavirus-related fatalities have raised the death toll in Iran to 19,804, the Health Ministry said Monday.

Some 2,247 more people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, pushing the overall count up to 345,450, according to ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.

She said more than 299,157 patients have recovered so far, while 3,773 are hospitalized in critical condition. Over 2.88 million tests have been conducted in Iran to date.

Iran is struggling to contain the pandemic since February, when the first cases were confirmed in the holy city of Qom.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 775,600 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December.

Over 21.69 million cases have been reported around the world, with the highest numbers in the US, Brazil, India, and Russia, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

More than half of all patients worldwide – over 13.68 million – have recovered so far, the data shows.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz