Cartoon by Javad Takjoo

Iran's total COVID-19 cases surpass 4 mlllion

Xinhua: Iran's total COVID-19 infections have exceeded 4 million after a new record of nearly 40,000 daily cases on Wednesday.

The Iranian Health Ministry reported 39,357 new cases, raising the country's total tally to 4,019,084.

The pandemic has so far claimed 92,194 lives in Iran, up by 409 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a briefing published on the ministry's official website.

A total of 3,444,798 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 5,959 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said.

By Wednesday, 11,138,741 people have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 2,885,294 have taken two doses.

The ministry added that 26,168,347 tests have so far been carried out across the country.

As the country's daily caseload continues to hit new records and authorities struggle to speed up vaccination, Iran is considering imposing a strict two-week nationwide lockdown to deal with the resurgence of COVID-19.

Analysts said the reasons for the sheer increase in infection rates since the end of June are the higher contagiousness of the Delta variant spreading in Iran, and a decline in people's awareness of observing health recommendations.

The Iranian health authorities reported the first cases of COVID-19 in February 2020. Enditem