Turkey reports over 11,100 more virus cases
Number of critically ill COVID-19 patients continues to drop across country, says health minister
ANKARA
Turkey reported 11,180 new coronavirus cases and 202 more fatalities on Saturday.
According to the Health Ministry’s latest data, the new cases include 1,713 symptomatic patients.
Turkey’s overall case count is now over 2.23 million, while the death toll stands at 21,295.
As many as 11,672 more patients recovered over the past 24 hours, raising the total to over 2.12 million.
Some 149,218 more COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country over the past day, taking the overall figure past 24.81 million.
The number of patients in critical condition has dropped to 3,764, the latest figures showed.
In a tweet, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the number of critically ill patients continues to decrease across Turkey, urging people to follow safety measures until the imminent mass inoculation drive kicks off and produces results.
Turkey imposed a nationwide curfew spanning the traditional New Year's holiday, with restrictions enforced at 9 p.m. (1800GMT) on Thursday due to be lifted at 5 a.m. (0200GMT) on Monday.
The country has been implementing a daily night curfew and weekend curfews since Dec. 5 to stem the spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed nearly 1.83 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December.
Over 84.1 million cases have been reported worldwide, including more than 47.42 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of infections.
