TEHRAN - COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of 138 healthcare workers so far in Iran, most of whom were doctors and physicians, Hossein Kermanpour, the director of public relations of Medical Council, has announced.

The healthcare workers who lost their lives in the fight against coronavirus are called martyrs of health.

Most martyrs were among the physicians amounting to 60 percent, and 20 percent of whom were nurses and the rest were other hospital staff.

Maryam Hazrati, deputy health minister for nursing said in May that some 65 percent of 200,000 nurses in the country was at the forefront of coronavirus fight.

Over the past 24 hours, 2,586 new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the country, of which 1,934 were hospitalized. So, the total number of patients in the country reached 281,413, Sima Sadat Lari, Ministry of Health’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, during the last 24 hours, 219 patients lost their lives, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the country reached 14,853, she said.

She went on to note that fortunately, 244,840 patients have recovered or been discharged from hospitals.

FB/MG