ANKARA

Turkey Friday confirmed 1,517 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the nationwide tally to 265,515.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter that the total number of recoveries reached 241,809.

Citing Health Ministry data, Koca said 1,017 patients recovered from COVID-19 over the past day. Meanwhile, the death toll in the country rose to 6,245 as 36 more people lost their lives to the virus.

Health care professionals conducted 107,814 more tests to diagnose the disease over the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 6.83 million.

Of those infected, 7.4% suffer from pneumonia.

The number of patients in critical condition rose to 896, according to the health ministry data.

Since it originated in China last December, the coronavirus has claimed over 832,700 lives in 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

More than 24.50 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries nearing 16.04 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.