Turkey's Coronavirus Death Toll Reaches 649, Total Cases Top 30 Thousand

In the last 24 hours, 75 people died of Covid-19 and 3,148 people were found to be infected according to the Health Ministry.

İstanbul

Turkey's Coronavirus Death Toll Reaches 649, Total Cases Top 30 Thousand

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Turkey's death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic has risen to 649 with 75 deaths today, the Health Ministry has annouced. The total cases have climbed to 30,217 with 3,148 new cases, the statement said.

The total number of cases have reached 202,845 with 21,400 tests in the last 24 hours, according to the statement. "Our daily number of tests will soon reach 30,000," Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet.

There are 1,415 patients in intensive care with 966 intubated patients while 1,326 have recovered from the disease, according to the ministry's figures.

The fatality rate of Covid-19 in the country is just above 2 percent. More than 60 percent of the deceased people were older than 60, the ministry previously stated.

İstanbul, the largest city of Turkey with a population of nearly 16 million, has been the most affected city from the pandemic, having around 60 percent of the confirmed cases.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced new measures on Friday (April 3), including travel restrictions from and to 31 cities, including İstanbul and the capital Ankara, a curfew for people younger than 20 years age and obligatory use of face masks in crowded places, such as grocery stores and public transport vehicles.

Previously, the Interior Ministry shut down most venues and cancelled mass events, as well as quarantining dozens of settlements in various parts of the country.

However, opposition politicians and doctors' organizations have been sugesting a full lockdown and halt of work in all sectors except transportation, health, communication and food.

CLICK - All Updates on Turkey's Coronavirus Tally

The novel coronavirus outbreak began in China's Wuhan city in December 2019. It has now spread to at least 180 countries and territories, infecting over 1.3 million people and killing more than 70 thousand, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US. Over 250 thousand people have recovered from the disease. The US, Italy, China, Iran and Spain have been the most affected countries.

About the novel coronavirus

What is a coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease Covid-19.

What is Covid-19?

Covid-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

How does Covid-19 spread?

People can catch Covid-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with Covid-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch Covid-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Studies to date suggest that the virus is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air.

Source: World Health Organization

(VK)