DUBAI - Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus rose by 73 in the previous 24 hours to reach 5,031 on Saturday, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour said on state TV.

The official number of deaths recorded daily dropped under 100 on April 14 and Saturday marks the fifth day in a row that the increase has been below that level.

The total number of people diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease caused by the new virus reached 80,868, as the country recorded 1,374 new cases in the past 24 hours, the spokesman said.

A total of 3,515 are in critical care, he added.

A parliamentary report released earlier this week said the coronavirus death toll might be almost double the figure announced by the health ministry, and the number of infections eight to 10 times more.

Iran is the Middle Eastern country worst-affected by the COVID-19 respiratory disease and has one of the world's highest death tolls.

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