ALGIERS

Algeria will start evacuating more than 1,700 of its citizens from Turkey on Friday, according to Algeria’s Transport Ministry.

A total of 1,788 Algerian citizens stranded in Istanbul will be brought back to their home country via Turkish and Algerian airlines between April 3-5, a ministry statement said.

The evacuees will remain under observation after arriving in Algeria, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

A total of 1,800 citizens were brought back to Algeria from Turkey on March 20, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune told reporters on March 31, adding that the number of evacuees has increased thereafter.

As many as 79 more people died of the coronavirus in Turkey in the past 24 hours, the Turkish health minister said on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 356.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases surged to 18,135, as 2,456 more people tested positive for the virus in a day, Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter.

Algeria's Health Ministry confirmed Wednesday 14 more fatalities due to the coronavirus, including a parliamentarian, raising the death toll to 58.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China in December, the virus has spread to 180 countries and regions.

Data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University shows worldwide infections topped 998,000 with over 50,200 deaths. More than 204,600 recovered from infections.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz