The Latest: Iran reports new record for daily COVID deaths

TEHRAN — Iran has reported its highest single-day COVID-19 death toll of the pandemic, according to state media.

The official IRNA news agency said Sunday that 684 people had died of the disease since Saturday, while more than 36,400 new cases were confirmed over the same 24-hour period.

Iran's previous daily record for COVID-19 deaths was recorded Aug. 16. The country reported its highest number of daily cases the next day, with more than 50,000.

A five-day lockdown in the country ended on Saturday.

The current wave of infections is Iran's fifth of the pandemic and fueled by the highly contagious delta variant. The country also is struggling to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus. Some 7% of Iranians have been fully vaccinated.

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Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

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