TEHRAN - Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Iran hit a record low on Tuesday as 98 new deaths were registered over the past 24 hours, the lowest since the virus outbreak in the country.

Over the past 24 hours, 1,547 new cases of coronavirus were reported and the total death toll rose to 4,683, the health ministry’s spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said. 

The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 74,877. There were 3,691 people in intensive care. Of those originally infected, 48,129 were declared recovered.

Iran has announced social distancing measures in a bid to minimize the spread of coronavirus.

The government has allocated 1,000 trillion rails (about $24 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to help lessen the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the national economy.

MG