TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran announced on Friday 4,552 new COVID-19 infections confirmed in the past 24 hours, totalling 522,387 since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said at her daily briefing that 29,870 people in Iran have lost their lives due to the novel coronavirus so far, up by 265 from a day ago.

As of Friday, 420,910 infected have recovered and been released from Iranian hospitals, while 4,684 people remain in critical condition in intensive care units.

The risk of infection is currently deemed high in 26 out of 31 Iranian provinces, while four others are on alert over the spread of the disease, she said.

Lari warned the spread pattern of COVID-19 is developing into a focus on family infections, and asked citizens to use online means to contact family members as much as possible.

Following the COVID-19 resurgence in Iran over the past weeks, the health authorities have reintroduced strict protective measures, including intercity travel bans in some regions of the country and compulsory use of face masks in the capital Tehran.

Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.

Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China.

In return, China has delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Enditem

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