COLOGNE, Germany

 Turkey closed its consulate in the western German city of Cologne on Sunday after one of its staff tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“Due to the detection of COVID-19 in the staff of our consulate general, our consulate general will not be able to serve between Oct.19 and Oct. 30,” the consulate said in a statement.

COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.11 million lives in 189 countries and regions since first being detected in Wuhan, China in December.

The US, India and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 39.8 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 27.3 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan