Iran on Saturday confirmed 71 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 8,730, Anadolu Agency reports. 

A further 2,410 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 184,955, Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said.

A total of 146,748 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, he said.

Some 1.21 million tests have been done in the country to date, Lari said.

Iran's daily number of COVID-19 cases dropped to around 800 in early May, but since authorities eased restrictions, daily figures have shown an upward trend, especially in the southwestern Khuzestan province.

Despite the rising number of infections, government employees have resumed work, and mosques reopened across the Middle Eastern country.

News.Az