Turkey refutes news on a possible curfew amid pandemic
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Turkey's Vice Minister of Interior İsmail Çataklı has dismissed a report by Reuters news agency, which previously alleged that a possible country-wide curfew might be imposed due to rising COVID-19 cases.
As reported by the Anadolu Agency (AA), Vice Minister Çataklı has tweeted, "The Reuters-based report claiming 'Turkey may bring curfew' is completely unfounded. As we have told before, everyone should disregard fake memorandums, anonymous sources and manipulative reports."
While Reuters' claims were based on statements made by an anonymous government official, one village and one neighborhood have been quarantined, according to the reports of the Anadolu Agency.
The Neighborhood of Köylüköyü in Turkey's western province of Balıkesir and the Village of Çerçiler in Turkey's Black Sea province of Kastamonu will be in COVID-19 quarantine for 14 days due to the increasing number of cases. While no entries or exits will be allowed within the indicated time period, the Vefa Social Support groups will meet the needs of citizens.
'There is an increase especially in İstanbul'
Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has also made a brief statement on his Twitter account. As reported by the state-run AA, Koca consulted with health officials from some of Turkey's largest cities via videoconference about the struggle against the pandemic yesterday (October 21).
"In the meetings with health officials in İzmir, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Eskişehir, Denizli, Adıyaman, Aydın, we evaluated the point we have reached in combating the epidemic. There is an increase in cases across these 7 provinces and the country, especially in İstanbul. The importance of masks has increased. Let's follow the rules," Koca has said on Twitter, urging compliance with measures to curb the virus's spread.
İZMİR, GAZİANTEP, KAHRAMANMARAŞ, ESKİŞEHİR, DENİZLİ, ADIYAMAN, AYDIN toplantılarında salgınla mücadelede geldiğimiz noktayı değerlendirdik. İstanbul başta olmak üzere, bu 7 il ve ülke genelinde vaka artışı görülüyor. Maskenin önemi arttı. Kurallara uyalım. pic.twitter.com/qwpIvIF6e0
— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) October 21, 2020
Death toll has topped 9,500 across Turkey
The Ministry of Health announced the latest figures on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Turkey yesterday (October 21).
While the daily number of new patients has been announced by the Ministry as 2,013, 68 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. 1,507 people have recovered. The number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours has been announced as 117,943.
According to the figures announced till today, 12,759,069 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Turkey so far. While the total number of patients is 353,426, the death toll has reached 9,513.
CLICK - Turkey reports over 2,000 new COVID-19 patients, again
(EKN/SD)