Iran’s coronavirus death toll rises by 76 to 5,650

Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose by 76 in the past 24 hours to 5,650, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour said on Saturday.

The total number of infections reached 89,328, he said.

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“So far, 410,075 coronavirus tests have been taken in the country,” Jahanpour said, adding that the death rate from the virus is slowing down.

Iranian officials have been giving conflicting statements about the rate of infections in the country.

Deaths from coronavirus in Iran have dropped by 70 percent since the peak of the disease, and hospitalizations due to the virus have dropped by half, deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, another health ministry official said that there has been an increase in coronavirus cases in at least four provinces.

“We are seeing an increase in the number of coronavirus cases in West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Tehran and Fars,” the head of the health ministry’s infectious diseases center Mohammadmehdi Gooya said on Saturday.

There has also been an increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the northern province of Gilan, the health ministry’s representative in the province said on Saturday.

Local officials in the provinces of Khuzestan and Zanjan also reported an increase in the number of coronavirus cases on Friday.