TEHRAN, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry reported 5,616 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 545,286.

The pandemic has so far claimed 31,346 lives in Iran, up by 312 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing.

A total of 438,709 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,861 remain in intensive care units, she added.

According to the spokeswoman, 4,599,554 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Wednesday.

Currently, the risk of infection is high in 27 Iranian provinces, Lari noted, asking people to avoid unnecessary outings.

Following the COVID-19 resurgence in Iran over the past weeks, the health authorities have reintroduced strict protective measures and compulsory use of face masks in the capital Tehran and major cities of the country.

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 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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