TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of novel coronavirus cases in Iran rose on Thursday to 367,796, after 2,190 cases were reported overnight, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced.

An Iranian man, wearing a protective face mask, buys hand sanitiser from a woman at a metro station in the capital Tehran on July 22, 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic. (Photo: AFP)

Of the new cases, 1,063 people had to be hospitalized, the spokeswoman for the ministry Sima Sadat Lari reported at her daily briefing, as quoted by official IRNA news agency.

Sadat Lari confirmed 117 new deaths caused by the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total COVID-19 death toll in Iran to 21,137.

The number of patients having recovered from COVID-19 has so far reached 316,638, but 3,822 people are currently in critical condition in intensive care units, according to the Iranian ministry's figures.

Up until Thursday, 3,138,782 people have been tested in laboratory for the novel coronavirus, Sadat Lari added.

The infection risk is currently high, according to the spokeswoman, in 13 out of 31 provinces in Iran, and 15 other provinces are in alert situation.

Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.

Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China.

In return, China has delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic.