TEHRAN 

Iran on Friday confirmed 75 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 8,659.

A further 2,369 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 182,545, Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said.

According to the spokesman, 144,649 people have so far recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 2,739 patients remain in critical condition.

Some 1.19 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.

Iran's daily number of COVID-19 cases dropped to around 800 in early May, but daily figures show an upward trend in recent days after authorities took measures to ease restrictions.

Despite the rising number of infections, government employees have resumed work, and mosques reopened across the Middle Eastern country. Shopping malls are now open after 6 p.m. local time (1330GMT).

Worldwide, the pandemic has killed more than 421,800 people, with total infections over 7.53 million, while around 3.55 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing By Zehra Nur Duz