MNA � As of Tuesday, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, in Iran has risen to 988 with 16,169 confirmed cases.

Iran�s Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Tuesday that 1,178 more cases have tested positive with the virus in the past 24 hours, increasing the total number of infections in Iran to 16,169.

Some 5,389 patients infected by the new coronavirus have so far recovered from the disease, he added.

This is while on Monday, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran stood at 853 with 14,991confirmed cases.

Jahanpour also stressed that the only way to defeat the outbreak is to stay at home and avoid unnecessary travels.

Based on the latest reports, the novel coronavirus has infected 182,723 people globally and killed 7,174.

157 countries have been grappling with the outbreak since December. The biggest foci are Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, the US, Switzerland, the UK, and Norway.

The WHO has officially described the situation with the novel coronavirus as a pandemic.