Turkey's Covid-19 cases top 180,000 amid new surge

After an increase in daily cases for five days in a row, the Health Ministry has reported 1,459 new infections for the past 24 hours, slightly lower than yesterday's update.

İstanbul

Turkey's Covid-19 cases top 180,000 amid new surge

Photo: İstanbul/AA

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The Health Ministry has confirmed 1,467 more cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total tally to 181,298.

The country's death toll from the virus rose to 4,842, as it reported 17 more fatalities in the past 24 hours, Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter. The total number of recoveries from the disease reached 153,379, while 732 patients remain in intensive care

Health care professionals conducted 46,800 tests to detect the disease in the past day, raising the total count to over 2.72 million.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Brazil and Russia are currently the hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed over 438,000 people worldwide, with more than 8.07 million confirmed cases and over 3.9 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus 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.

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)