Weekend curfew becomes effective across Turkey

ANKARA

A Turkey-wide weekend curfew became effective on Friday as part of measures to stem a new coronavirus wave.

The weekend-long curfew in the country began on Friday at 9 p.m. and will end on Monday at 5 a.m. local time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late November announced new restrictions, including a curfew on weeknights and a full weekend curfew.

Some sectors, including production, supply, health, and agriculture, will be exempt from the curfews, Erdogan said.

Supermarkets, grocery stores, butchers, and dried fruit shops will operate between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. over the weekend.

Bakeries will also be open during the weekend curfew.

Meanwhile, restaurants will only offer delivery services between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The announcement came after a surge in the number of COVID-19 patients in Turkey.

On Friday, Turkey reported 11,479 new COVID-19 infections, including 1,291 symptomatic patients, and saw 186 more deaths over the past 24 hours.