İstanbul, Ankara mandate face masks amid new rise in Covid-19 cases

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İstanbul, Ankara and Bursa today (June 17) made the use of face masks obligatory amid a new surge in coronavirus cases.

Statements by the governors of the three cities came late at night, following a recommendation by the Ministry of Health's Science Board.

İstanbul, the largest city of the country, has also been affected by the pandemic the most, having more than half of all cases. Mask use in the city has already been mandated in closed spaces in public and private workplaces and in public transport.

As of tomorrow, those who don't appropriately wear face masks in open areas will be fined, according to a statement by the Governor's Office.

Ankara, the capital, and Bursa, the second and fourth most populated cities of Turkey, followed İstanbul to mandate face masks in open spaces.

Daily new coronavirus cases have been on the rise over the past week following a series of reopening steps by the government at the start of this month.

With the new additions, it is now forbidden to go out without wearing face masks in 47 out of 81 provinces: Adıyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Amasya, Ardahan, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bartın, Batman, Bolu, Burdur, Denizli, Düzce, Elazığ, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Iğdır, Isparta, Maraş, Karabük, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Konya, Kütahya, Malatya, Mardin, Muğla, Muş, Nevşehir, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Siirt, Sivas, Şırnak, Tunceli, Uşak, Zonguldak, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Kayseri, Rize, Urfa, Yalova and Bitlis.

Turkey's death toll rom the pandemic stands at 4,861 with a total of 182,727 cases.

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.

(EKN/VK)