TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian knowledge-based firms are making strenuous efforts to manufacture a variety of medical and hygiene items in a bid to contribute to the national combat against the COVID-19.

"The knowledge-based companies are active in different fields, including capability of daily production of 1mln masks, 1.5mln liters of disinfectants, ventilators, oxygen reservoirs, non-contact thermometer, protective gowns and diagnostic kits," an official with Iran’s health ministry Mehdi Keshmiri said on Saturday.

He added that the knowledge-based and technological firms in Iran have also produced different types of machines to disinfect the environment and increased production of ventilators 6-fold.

Furthermore, Tehran’s guilds and economic activists produce half a million face masks every day, Head of the Basij Organization of Tehran’s Guilds, Gholamreza Hassanpour said on Saturday.

Hassanpour said after the outbreak of coronavirus, his organization prioritized manufacture of face masks to fulfill the growing national demand for the item.

“The produced masks have been delivered to the medical universities, pharmacies and hygiene centers,” he noted, and added, “Part of the products were handed out among the people freely.”

Hassanpour made it clear that the units affiliated to the organization are completely ready to meet the needs of different sectors.

Moreover, Head of Iran's University Jihad Organization Hamidreza Tayyebi said that a new kit to diagnose coronavirus infection has been licensed by the Pasteur Institute of Iran.

"The University Jihad [Organization] has focused on production of kits to diagnose coronavirus and a kit named COVIMED has been produced by the University Jihad's cancer research center after the outbreak and received license from Pasteur Institute," Tayyebi told FNA on Saturday.

He also underlined efforts to produce coronavirus vaccine at the University Jihad's Avicenna research center.

Meanwhile, Second Coronavirus Diagnosis laboratory has been launched in Chabahar, Sistan-Balouchestan Province, Southeast of Iran, a local official said on Saturday.

President of Iranshahr Medical Sciences University Aminifar said the second coronavirus lab was set up in Chabahar on Saturday to contribute to the efforts to curb the virus outbreak.

He added that the equipment in this lab is capable of diagnosing viral and infectious diseases like AIDS, Hepatitis, Influenza and COVID-19 as well as conducting 100 tests per day.

Aminifar noted that launching the lab will increase the capacity of the coronavirus diagnosis test in the South of the province to 200 per day.

Meantime, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that over 1,000 medical centers in the country have received necessary equipment to conduct tests on people suspected of infection to coronavirus, and added that Iran ranks first in the Muslim world in scientific achievements.

"Based on a report [by the health ministry], 1,200 centers across the country are ready to take samples and tests from people and 17,500 nursing and health homes are also prepared to provide hygiene and treatment services to people," Rouhani said, addressing a meeting of the national coronavirus campaign headquarters in Tehran on Saturday.

He added that Iran ranks 15th in the world and 1st in the Muslim world in area of science, noting that two drugs which have proved efficiency in treatment of coronavirus disease have been identified and are being used in the country now.

Rouhani underlined that today many people from across the world travel to Iran for treatment, adding that certain medical operations, including organ transplantation, are carried out in Iran at highest quality levels and with most efficiency rates.

The Iranian health ministry announced on Saturday that 2,269 new cases of infection to coronavirus have been diagnosed in the country in the past 24 hours, noting that over 132,000 patients have recovered.

"2,269 more patients infected with COVID-19 virus have been identified in the country in the past 24 hours based on confirmed diagnosis criteria," Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Saturday.

He explained that 527 new patients have been hospitalized.

Jahanpour noted that the total number of coronavirus patients in the country has increased to 169,425 people.

He expressed pleasure that 132,038 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Jahanpour said that 8,209 people have lost their lives due to infection to the virus, including 75 in the past 24 hours.

The ministry’s spokesman, meantime, expressed concern that 2,578 patients infected with COVID-19 virus are in critical conditions.

He added that 1,060,126 coronavirus tests have been carried out in the country so far.

Jahanpour also said that there are concerns about Hormozgan and Krmanshah provinces, adding that the status of Khuzestan province is still red.

He expressed pleasure that there have been no reports of death in 15 provinces and 6 provinces witnessed only 1 death each during the past 24 hours.

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki stressed on April 7 effective measures to control coronavirus epidemic, expressing the hope that the disease would be controlled in Iran by late May.

“At present, the country is in the phase of disease management and we should not imagine that we have reached the harness and control phase. Today is the time for full-fledged combat against the virus. God willing, we will control coronavirus by late May. The virus should be controlled in the minimum possible time,” Namaki said, addressing the Iranian legislators in an open session of the parliament in Tehran.

He noted that at least 30% to 50% of hospital beds are still vacant across Iran and nearly 15,000 beds are ready to keep the patients who are recovering from coronavirus disease.

“We have now moved down to tank 6th in terms of deaths,” Namaki said, adding that the country’s situation in treatment of patients will improve in the next few days.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting approximately all countries and territories around the world. The virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has so far killed more than 398,500 people and infected over 6.86 million others globally.

The Iranian foreign ministry declared that despite Washington’s claims of cooperation to transfer drugs to Iran via the new Swiss-launched payment mechanism, the US is troubling the process amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Although US claims that medicines and medical equipment are not under sanctions, they have practically blocked the transfer of Iran’s financial resources in other countries into the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said.

As the death toll from the virus surges, Iran intensifies its preventive safety measures. Closures of schools and most universities have been extended until further notice.

The government also imposed travel restrictions, specially on Iran’s North, which is among the red zones. The country has also adopted strict digital health control procedures at airports to spot possible infections.

Namaki announced last month that a new national mobilization plan would be implemented across the country to fight against the coronavirus epidemic and more effectively treat patients.

Namaki said that the plan will include all the 17,000 health centers and the 9,000 medical and clinical centers in all cities, suburban areas and villages.

He added that the plan will include home quarantine, noting that infected people will receive the necessary medicines and advice, but they are asked to stay at home.

Namaki said that people with a more serious condition will stay at the hospitals, adding that the public places will be disinfected, the entries of infected towns and cities will be controlled to diagnose and quarantine the infected cases.

He added that the necessary equipment and facilities have been provided, expressing the hope that the epidemic would be curbed.

According to the latest statistics of Health Ministry, the number of medical laboratories to test coronavirus infection has reached over 90 across the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Iran's response to the virus has so far been up to the mark. Still, it says the US sanctions are a big challenge, and Washington would be complicit in the rising death toll in Iran if it would not remove its sanctions.

The World Health Organization has considered priorities in combating coronavirus and Islamic Republic of Iran obeys and follows up priorities as defined by WHO.

The WHO is dispatching separate delegations to all countries.