Coronavirus: Iran records highest daily death toll

The 162 deaths reported on Monday exceeds the previous record set on April 4

Iranians wear face masks while riding the metro in Tehran, Iran. Reuters

Iran recorded its highest number of deaths in a day from Covid-19, official health ministry figures showed on Monday as it was revealed that 162 people died.

The previous record was on April 4, when the health ministry reported 158 deaths.

Iran has recorded 10,670 deaths and 225,205 infections from the novel coronavirus, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said. There have been 186,180 recoveries.

The number of new daily infections and deaths increased sharply in the past week after the gradual lifting of restrictions that began in mid-April.

Senior officials regularly give warnings that restrictions will be reimposed if regulations to contain infections are not observed.

Eight provinces are considered to be red zones, the health ministry said.

Wearing masks will become mandatory in gathering places determined by the health ministry starting on Sunday, July 5, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia recorded its highest single day increase with 4,387 new cases, raising the total to 190,823, a health ministry spokesman said, while Oman has confirmed 1,010 new cases taking its total to 40,070.

Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco are among a list of 14 "safe" countries announced by the EU whose citizens will be allowed to travel to the bloc from 1 July, despite the pandemic.

The Council of the European Union adopted a recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU.

Also on the current "safe" list, still likely to be amended, are Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand and Uruguay.

Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that society is failing to abide by coronavirus measures as people are not putting enough effort in.

“We are not determined enough at decreasing the case numbers and not careful enough in the measures,” Mr Koca wrote on Twitter.

Turkey’s death toll from the novel coronavirus stands at 5,115, with 198,613 infections.

A United Nations fundraising event for Syria, where nine years of war has displaced millions in a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by soaring food prices and the coronavirus crisis, asked during a virtual conference on Tuesday for nearly US$10 billion in aid, with Qatar pledging $100 million.

The now annual fund-raising round for Syria brought together 60 governments and non-official agencies.

"The danger of Covid-19 remains acute," said UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen.

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, there have only been 269 confirmed cases, but the World Health Organisation has warned the real situation is probably far worse and the number of infections likely to accelerate.

Iraq, which has recently seen a number of infections among its politicians, recorded another rise of 1,958 new Covid-19 cases and 104 deaths.