ANKARA

Turkey on Friday confirmed over 1,600 more recoveries from coronavirus as the country began easing measures against the pandemic, according to the health minister.

The total number of recoveries from the disease reached 133,400 as 1,622 more patients were discharged from hospitals over the past day, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing Health Ministry data.

A total of 18 new fatalities were reported over the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 4,648.

Healthcare professionals did 57,829 tests for the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the total number to more than 2.26 million.

According to the test results, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 168,340 with 930 new infections.

Currently, some 592 patients are being treated in intensive care, the ministry data showed.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Brazil, Russia, and several European countries are currently the hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed nearly 393,000 people worldwide, with almost 6.7 million confirmed cases and some 2.9 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.