Iranian army’s deputy coordinator Gen. Ali Jahanshahi said on Thursday a hospital hosting 2,000 beds to fight the new coronavrius has been handed over to medical staff.
The hospital was set up by Iran's military in an exhibition center in Tehran to shore up the local health care system as it battles the worst coronavirus outbeak in the Middle East, state TV reported.
The new health facility, which begin receiving patients next week, has three units and several isolation wards which will be used for patients who are recovering from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus.
On Thursday, Iran announced 144 new deaths, bringing the official number of fatalities to 2,378.
"In the past 24 hours, we've had 2,926 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections across the country," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
"This brings the overall confirmed cases to at least 32,332," he added, noting that 11,133 of those hospitalized so far have recovered.
Jahanpour said nearly 2,900 of those infected are in a critical condition, noting that the rising number of confirmed cases was due to Iranians increasingly "self-declaring" symptoms and undergoing testing.
.
Authorities have urged people to stay home but have not imposed the sweeping lockdowns seen elsewhere in the region, the Associated Press reported.
Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted they have the outbreak under control despite concerns it could overwhelm the country's health facilities.
Suffering from severe US sanctions, Iran refused to receive Washington's humanitarian aid to contain the virus.
