Turkey brings back nationals abroad amid COVID-19

ANKARA/MALATYA

Turkey brought back 777 of its nationals from Morocco, Algeria, Italy, and the US early Saturday as part of its ongoing repatriation efforts.

It is working to bring back nearly 25,000 citizens for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan who have been stranded abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 277 returned from Morocco on a special Turkish Airlines flight that arrived in Ankara.

Following mandatory health checks, passengers were transported to central Aksaray province to be quarantined at a student dormitory.

A flight from the US returned 282 Turks to Ankara, including eight babies, and they were sent to dormitories in the city for quarantine.

In central Malatya province, 109 passengers, including nine Algerians, arrived from Algeria and placed in quarantine at a student dormitory.

Another flight with 194 Turkish citizens from Italy landed in the central Turkish province of Karaman and passengers were taken to a student dormitory where they were quarantined.

On Friday, Turkey returned more than 3,800 nationals from several countries as part of its repatriation operation.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 195,900 people, with total infections nearing 2.8 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University. An excess of 781,300 people have recovered.