Covid-19: Turkey Sees New Surge After Reopening, Reports Highest Cases in a Month

İstanbul's parks have been crowded since the reopening on June 1. (Photo: bianet) 

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Turkey has registered the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since mid-May with 1,459, bringing the tally to 176,677.

New cases exceeded 1,000 for the second day in a row as the government has been easing measures since the beginning of the month, including reopening cafes and parks, easing the curfew for the youth and the elderly and removing intercity travel restrictions.

Sharing the figures on Twitter, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, "The increase in the number of cases warns those who don't comply with the measures."

According to the figures, the country's death toll has risen to 4,792 with 14 fatalities over the past 24 hours.

Also, 985 people have been discharged from treatment since yesterday's update as total recoveries exceeded 150,000.

Here are today's numbers:

Reopening in Turkey

Turkey's easing of coronavirus measures started as early as on May 11, when the government reopened shopping malls, albeit with new physical distancing and hygiene rules. This was followed by more steps on June 1, including the reopening of cafes, restarurants and similar places, as well as parks, beaches and recration areas.

On the same day, entry and exit restrictions for 15 larger provinces, including İstanbul and Ankara, were lifted and domestic flights resumed. 

On June 5, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan abruptly lifted the weekend curfew for the 15 provinces, which was declared by the Interior Ministry about 12 hours before. The weekend curfews had been in place since April 11.

İstanbul's Golden Horn on the second weekend without a curfew. (Photo: AA)

The President further announced on June 9 that people over the age of 65 would be allowed to go out between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. A curfew was declared for the elderly on March 22. Those younger than 18 were also allowed to go out on the condition of being with their parents.

The government also resumed international flights on June 11 and announced that all tourism facilities, theaters and concert halls would reopen on July 1.   

Daily fatalities, cases and tests reported by the Health Ministry:

(VK)