TEHRAN: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Iran passed the two-million mark Thursday, while the daily caseload set a new record high in what a health official warned amounted to a “meteoric” spike.
As the Islamic republic reached the grim milestone, some health experts called for a lockdown of the capital Tehran to contain the country’s fourth Covid-19 wave.
Iran is battling the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, and officials have blamed the latest surge on trips made during last month’s Persian New Year holidays.
Over the past 24 hours, the country officially recorded 22,586 new cases of infection, reaching a new high, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.
This marks an increase of more than 1,600 cases over the previous record, set just the day before.
Iran also recorded an additional 185 coronavirus-related deaths, Lari said, bringing the total to 63,884.
Daily fatalities and infections had remained relatively stable below the 100 and 7,000 mark in January, rising only slightly until a sharp increase in late March.
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