Coronavirus in Iran: Daily infections drop by 53 percent in past 18 days

Saeed Namaki said on Wednesday that the country has managed to reduce the number of daily infections by 53 percent during the past 18 days, when the first meeting of the health ministers of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean countries was held.

He added that in the same period, the death toll due to the COVID-19 disease, caused by coronavirus, has also reduced by 30 percent.

He added, however, that in the same period, the total number of confirmed infections has hit over 84,000 from 50,468 as of April 20.

Namaki made the remarks during a videoconference also attended by the secretary general of the World Health Organization, the head of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and health ministers of the forum member states.

In Iran, the latest figures indicate a downward trend in the number of infections from the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of public relations and information center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, said a total of 1,194 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 during the past 24 hours.

The figure indicates another daily drop in infections that now stand at 85,996 across the country.

The death toll also remains in double digits as 94 fatalities reported since Tuesday, pushing the overall tally to nearly 5,391 so far.

The Iranian health official said the gradual downward trend in cases of the new coronavirus across the country has been maintained.

 “We are in the phase of managing the disease and the trend of controlling COVID-19 disease has been maintained,” Jahanpour said, but stressed the need for people to observe social distancing and abide by hygienic guidelines to help the country achieve a better handling of the deadly virus.

According to the ministry, 63,113 people have so far been recovered.