TEHRAN, Mar. 01 (MNA) – Secretary of Nanotechnology Headquarters of Iran’s Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology says some 70,000 nanotechnology face masks are produced in Tehran per day, adding that the amount will be significantly increased in the coming days.

Saeed Sarkar said Sunday that the coordination with the related authorities and manufacturers have been done to increase the face mask production to 200,000 in the current week, and rise it to 300,000 within ten days by bringing new production lines into operation.

The Iranian government has now said it has banned the export of face masks for three months and ordered factories to ramp up production in a bid to meet the hiking demand of the product amid the fight against the new coronavirus outbreak.

Iran has been grappled with the coronavirus outbreak, also known as COVID-19, in the past days.

The death toll from the new virus in Iran rose to 43 by Saturday, with a total of 593 cases diagnosed with the infection.

The Covid-19 has so far infected more than 86,000 people across the world, claiming around 3,000 lives.

MNA/FNA13981210000950