Mainland China had 508 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Monday, the country's National Health Commission said on Tuesday, February 25 up from 409 cases a day earlier. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 77,658.
The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 2,663 as of the end of Monday, up by 71 from the previous day.
The central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 68 new deaths, while in the provincial capital of Wuhan, 56 people died.
COVID-19 cases in Iran surge
The number of coronavirus cases in Iran has increased to 64, with 12 fatalities, a health official announced here, leading to a number of countries to close their borders with the Islamic Republic.
On Monday, Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said the infected people were from the cities of Qom, Arak, Rasht, Tonekabon and the capital Tehran, reports Xinhua news agency.
Earlier in the day, Press TV had reported that Iranian factories producing face masks have swung into full gear amid the sudden surge in cases.
Other government departments have also joined the campaign to confront the spread of infection in Iran. The Ministry of Defense, which runs major industrial units across the country, also placed orders on Monday for mass production of disinfectants, according to Press TV.
Due to the outbreak, Pakistan, Turkey and Armenia have temporarily closed their borders with Iran. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Kuwait has reported three cases, Oman two and Bahrain and Iraq each confirmed one.
