Iran’s Health Ministry Spokesperson Sima Lari made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that the number of total coronavirus cases in the country has so far reached 298,909 with the death toll standing at 16,343.

COVID-19 has infected 2,636 people and claimed 196 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, she noted.

According to Lari, 4,027 patients are in critical condition and of those infected, 259,116 patients have recovered.

So far, 2,405,862 tests have been taken across the country to detect infected cases, she added.

According to the latest figures, 16,920,857 have so far been infected with the novel coronavirus globally, with the deaths standing at 664,141 and recoveries amounting to 10,485,316.