Turkey reports 3,116 more coronavirus patients

ANKARA

Turkey registered 3,116 more COVID-19 patients over the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data released on Saturday.

The country's overall count now stands at 411,055, the data showed.

A total of 2,298 more patients recovered over the past day, bringing the tally to 351,102, while the death toll rose by 92 to reach 11,418.

Over 150,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country in the past 24 hours, raising the total to over 16 million.

The number of patients in critical condition currently stands at 3,423, with 4.2% this week suffering from pneumonia.

"The number of patients in critical condition is rising," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, urging the public to follow safety measures to help curb the spread of the virus.

Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the nation to comply with measures taken to fight the pandemic.

"I expect our nation to carefully comply with the measures we have put in place to combat the pandemic in this critical period," he said in a video address at a provincial congress of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.

"If we do not follow the rules and protect our own health, we may have difficulty bearing this burden," the president warned.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.3 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December.

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

Over 53.52 million cases have been reported worldwide, with over 34.54 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.