TEHRAN -- No Iranian city has been in the COVID-19 high-risk red zone during the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education said on Saturday.
According to the ministry’s latest figures, eight cities are in the orange zone, 119 are in the yellow zone and 321 in the blue zone.
Figures released by the ministry on Saturday showed 41 patients had lost their lives over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020 to 131,033.
The ministry said it detected 1,361 new cases in the period, taking the overall caseload to 6.16 million people.
Coronavirus figures have been on a downward trend since the government started a mass vaccination campaign. So far, more than 59 million people have received the first dose of the COVID vaccine, more than 50 million the second dosage and about 4.5 million have been administered the booster shots. Iran has administered more than 112.5 million doses in total.
However, due to the spread of the heavily-mutated Omicron coronavirus variant in more than 80 countries around the world, taking safety precautions like wearing a face mask, hand-washing and physical distancing are still the most important health protocols that remain vital.
Health officials say given that the Omicron variant is believed to be more transmissible, the healthcare advice is unlikely to change, advising people to take extra precautions.