Calls grow for Iranians to wear face masks to halt spread of COVID-19

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.

"The spread of coronavirus in society has reached such a level that the use of masks is necessary for everyone," said Ghassem Janbabaee, a deputy health minister.

"Continuing to neglect health protocols can lead to further outbreaks and recurrences in the near future," he said, quoted late Thursday on the ministry's website.

Iran sees an upward trend in daily infections in many provinces, especially in the southwestern Khuzestan province.
Semi-official news agency ISNA on Friday published a series of pictures showing people in public without masks in the hard-hit southwestern province of Khuzestan.

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.

The government has struggled to contain what quickly became the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak.

Since April, however, it has gradually lifted health protocols in order to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.

That has coincided with a fresh surge in cases, which the government denies amounts to a second wave, saying they are due to increased testing.
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.