TEHRAN - The Iranian Health Ministry reported that 1,499 new patients were infected with the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, a notable decrease compared with 1,606 in the same period the day before.

Over the past 24 hours, 89 new patients have lost their lives compared with 92 a day earlier, Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said, ISNA reported.

The total number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus in the country has reached 79,494, of whom 4,958 have died and 54,064 have recovered.

The Iranian government has allocated 1,000 trillion rails (about $24 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to help lessen the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the national economy.

Plasma therapy has so far reduced coronavirus deaths in Iran by 40 percent as experts in the country have discovered a life-saving method for those recovering from COVID-19. 

Iranian-made medical items will be soon mass-produced and hit the market within the next month, Babak Shokri, vice-chancellor of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences has stated. The items consist of diagnostic kits, face masks and ventilators made by Iranian researchers, he said. 

MG