TEHRAN: Iran’s daily Covid-19 death toll hit a new high on Monday by registering 655 new cases, taking the country’s total death cases to 98,483.

The pandemic has so far infected a total of 4,467,015 people in the country, after 41,194 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

A total of 3,757,157 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,379 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said.

By Monday, 15,454,351 people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 4,381,288 have taken two doses.

The official report added that 27,278,929 tests have so far been carried out across the country.

On Monday, Iran started a five-day lockdown of all non-essential businesses across the country, and state TV showed images of empty streets in different Iranian cities.

Later in the day, Mohammad Ali Mohseni Bandpey, governor of Tehran province, announced that insurance companies have been instructed to cover the expenses of PCR and rapid Covid-19 tests, and two insurance companies in Tehran have already started to refund those tests.–Xinhua