Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday called on the country’s health institutions to step up efforts to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, reports the Xinhua news agency.
Rouhani said that he has ordered the health ministry and the vice presidency for science and technology to focus efforts on the development of a vaccine.
Likewise, domestic knowledge-based companies and research centers at medical sciences universities should be supported to synthesize coronavirus medicines, develop test methods to diagnose the disease, and produce a vaccine for COVID-19.
"Considering the scientific capabilities of our country's experts, attaining the goal would not be out of reach," he was quoted as saying.
Iran, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East from COVID-19, on Saturday reported that the number of confirmed cases reached 70,029, with an increase of 1,837 over 24 hours.
With 125 new deaths over the past day, the death toll reached 4,357 as of Saturday, said Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the Iranian Health Ministry.
Jahanpur said that 41,947 of reported cases have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. 3,987 of the patients are in critical condition.
At least 31 members of the Iranian parliament have contracted the virus, including its speaker Ali Larijani, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.
High-profile deaths in Iran from the coronavirus include a member of the council advising the Ayatollah, a former ambassador, a newly-elected member of parliament, an adviser to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and a re-elected member of parliament.
A top adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, was also reported to have been infected with the virus.