Tehran, Oct 29 (IANS): Iran announced its highest daily figure of deaths related to the COVID-19 epidemic so far, after 415 people died in the past 24 hours, according to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education's website.

Sima Sadat Lari said at her daily briefing on Wednesday that 6,824 new infections were confirmed overnight, which takes the total number of cases to 588,648, Xinhua news agency reported.

After the death of 415 people in the past 24 hours, the epidemic has claimed 33,714 lives in Iran so far, she added.

Fortunately, the spokeswoman further noted, 467,917 patients have as of Wednesday recovered or been released from hospitals in the country.

Currently, she went on to say, 5,012 COVID-19 patients are in critical condition in Iranian intensive care units.

The number of laboratory tests carried out in Iran for COVID-19 has now reached 4,821,681, according to Sadat Lari.

The risk of infection is currently high in 27 out of 31 Iranian provinces, while four others are on yellow alert over the spread of the disease.

Following the recent COVID-19 resurgence in Iran, the health authorities have reintroduced strict protective measures and compulsory use of face masks in the capital Tehran and major cities of the country.