TEHRAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry reported 5,908 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,206,373.

People shop for Yalda Night at an old bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Dec. 20, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

The pandemic has so far claimed 54,814 lives in Iran, up by 121 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education during her daily briefing.

Of the newly infected, 798 were hospitalized, said Lari.

A total of 960,751 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 5,174 remain in intensive care units, she added.

According to the spokeswoman, 7,460,422 tests for the virus have been carried out in Iran as of Monday.

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