Iran Warns of 'Rising Trend' As Virus Cases Top 100,000

Iran warned of a "rising trend" in its coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday that 1,680 new infections had raised its total caseload above the 100,000 mark.

The Islamic Republic has struggled to control the worst epidemic of COVID-19 in the Middle East after it declared the first cases in mid-February.

Concerns were raised last month about the threat of a "second wave" of the virus in a report by parliament that criticized the government's slow response.

"We are witnessing a rising trend in the past three or four days, which is significant," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference.

The rise was "based on our behavior, especially in the past two weeks, considering that a part of society has apparently had a change of attitude," he added.

The newly reported infections brought the country's overall number of confirmed cases to 101,650.

On Saturday, Iran's official daily infection rate has reached its lowest point since March 10, but cases have since recovered.

Jahanpour, a health minister, said that the rise in cases may be attributed to enhanced traffic through cities and excessive travel.

Iran has enabled a steady return to work to revitalize its economy since 11 April and has reopened mosques in parts of the country deemed to be at low risk.

Jahanpour has announced 78 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours in a country whose death toll has already been rife since Sunday.

This brought to 6,418 the total number of fatalities officially recorded in Iran since February 19, when it announced its first two deaths in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

Of those injured, 81,587 were treated and released while 2,735 were in critical condition.

Experts and authorities, both in Iran and abroad, criticized the country's COVID-19 estimates, suggesting that the real number of cases may be far higher than recorded.

A report published by parliament in mid-April said the real death toll could be as much as 80 percent higher than what the government announced.

It said the officially announced figures were based only on "patients that are hospitalized with severe symptoms".

It also said a "second wave" of the virus may come next winter, possibly without a break due to containment measures taking too long.