Turkey: COVID-19 recoveries outnumber infections by 300

ANKARA

Recoveries in Turkey from the novel coronavirus on Wednesday topped the number of daily infections by 300, said the country's health minister.

As many as 1,203 people recovered from the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

The country registered 902 new COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the tally to 222,402, he said.

Citing Health Ministry data, Koca said overall recoveries had now climbed to 205,214.

He emphasized that daily infections also say a 44-day low, dropping to roughly 900.

"Masks have become widespread in many of our cities; life has been settling on a promising order," he said.

The country's death toll from pandemic climbed to 5,545 with 19 new fatalities reported since Tuesday.

The overall count of COVID-19 tests in Turkey rose to over 4.4 million with more than 43,400 new tests conducted over the past 24 hours.

Health Ministry data also shows that a total of 1,244 people remain in intensive care units across the country.

Since it originated in China last December, over 15 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide so far, with recoveries topping 8.5 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

The global death toll currently stands at nearly 618,000.