Daily Covid-19 Cases Continue to Increase in Turkey After Reopening

Authorities complain that people do not wear masks and maintain distance between one another. (Photo: Ankara/AA)

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Daily Covid-19 cases continued to increase for the fourth day in a row as the Health Ministry reported 1,562 cases for the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 178,239.

After the government eased most measures in early June, the number of new cases has increased to mid-May levels. 

The death toll, meanwhile, has risen to 4,807 with 15 fatalities in a day.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca pointed out in a tweet that the number of recoveries was lower than new infections while patients in intensive care units and on ventilators have increased as well.

"We are moving away from the target. Our weakest point is imprudent optimism. Let's be cautiously optimistic. Let's fully implement the controlled social life tomorrow," he noted.

Here are today's numbers:

Ministry advisor: Numbers show that we got normalization wrong

Prof. Tevfik Özlü, a pulmonologist and a member of the Health Ministry' Science Committee, said earlier in the day that if the increase in new cases continues, the country may face a "serious threat."

While the outbreak is still under control, the increase is "concerning," the professor said in a video on his personal YouTube channel.

About the cause of the spike in daily cases, Özlü said, "We got normalization wrong, we understood it as going back to the old days."

"If everyone in a crowd is masked and wears the mask appropriately, closing their mouths and noses, it means all of us are safe. But if some people are walking around without masks, I am not safe enough even if I wear a mask. Everyone needs to be sensitive," he said.

"Distance is very important as well. It is necessary not to touch people. There are many problems and carelessness about this," he added.

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

(VK)