Minister: Turkey on 'second peak' of Covid-19, Ankara becomes new outbreak center

Photo: AA

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Turkey has reached the "second peak of the first wave" of the Covid-19 pandemic, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has said amid increasing new cases and deaths.

Also announcing the daily figures at a press conference in the capital, Ankara, Koca said that 45 peole died in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 6,462.

The upward trend in new cases continued as 1,596 new infections were found, according to the ministry figures. The total number of cases has reached 273,301.

Table: AA

Ankara has become a new center of the outbreak as the number of daily cases has been twice as more than İstanbul, according to the minister.

Koca announced the number of infected health workers for the second time during the pandemic, stating that 29,865 healthcare professionals contracted the virus and 52 lost their lives.

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No one in the country has caught the virus twice, but it does not mean it will never happen, Koca further said.

Cases and recoveries since the reopening on June 1:

"The mobility and our carelessness in the feasts and weddings has brought us to this point," he added. The number of cases in the country has significantly increased after the Sacrifice Feast between July 31 and August 3.

"The epidemic is growing and continuing. The virus is infecting more and more people every day," Koca further said. "We increase the number of tests every day. The number of new patients is not decreasing."

Healthcare workers conducted 107,927 cases in the past 24 hours, the total number of tests stand at 7.35 million, according to the minstry figures.

The number of severely ill patients exceeded 1,000 while 7.6 percent of the patients have from pneumonia.

Deaths, cases, recoveries and tests reported by the ministry since the start of the outbreak on March 11:

(VK)