Daily Virus Deaths Scale New High

The number of overnight coronavirus deaths in Iran crossed 270 for the first time since the viral infection was detected in the country, a health official said on Monday.
The death of 272 Covid-19 patients within 24 hours took the national toll to 28,816, the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, was quoted as saying by ISNA. 
The daily death toll has broken its record for the third time in the last five days.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced that Iran has successfully concluded animal trials for its domestic Covid-19 vaccine, adding that “clinical trials will commence as early as the next two to three weeks”.
The local vaccine has been manufactured according to international standards and the protocols of World Health Organization and Food and Drug Administration, he added.
Pointing to the surge in coronavirus cases, the minister said elective surgeries have been postponed to clear hospital beds for an influx of Covid-19 patients. 
A member of the National Coronavirus Taskforce, Minoo Mohraz, described the circumstances as “really bad”, noting that there are no beds to hospitalize new coronavirus patients and in some cases, patients are put on hold until others are discharged.
According to Mohraz, the death count will continue to climb without serious intervention. 
“Some patients don’t even get to hospitals before they die. The situation is extremely critical,” she said.
Responding to claims that the third wave of infections is more “severe” than the previous two, Mohraz said, “Currently, the disease is not more severe, but the number of patients has risen sharply.”
Some 4,206 tested positive for Covid-19 in a 24-hour period, taking the national tally to over 504,000. 
More than 409,000 have recovered from the infectious disease and 4,500 are in serious condition, Lari said. 
Iran has administered 4.3 million diagnostic tests. 
Global coronavirus infections surpassed 37.8 million and deaths rose to 1.08 million on Monday.