Iran's health ministry on Sunday reported 49 new deaths from coronavirus, the highest toll within 24 hours since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, France24 reported.
"At least 194 of our compatriots who fell sick with the COVID-19 illness have passed away," Iranian health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
The outbreak of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in Iran is one of the deadliest outside of China, where the virus originated late last year.
Jahanpour added that 743 new infections were also confirmed within the past 24 hours, bringing the number of cases to 6,566 spread across all of Iran's 31 provinces.
With 1,805 infections, the capital Tehran remains part of the province with the most cases, he noted.
Outside Tehran, the situation in the provinces continued to deteriorate, with Jahanpour saying 685 cases were detected in and around Qom, the holy Shiite city south of Tehran where the country's first cases were reported.
He said the number of cases was also "rising quickly" in Isfahan, a popular tourist destination, where there were now 564 people sick with the virus.
There have been high-profile deaths in Iran from the coronavirus. These include a member of the council advising the Ayatollah, a former ambassador, a newly-elected member of parliament, an adviser to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and a re-elected member of parliament who died on Saturday.
