Turkey: COVID-19 patients in ICU on decline

ANKARA

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care in Turkey is on the decline for the first time since the outbreak, health minister Fahrettin Koca said Sunday.

"There has been a new development in COVID-19 patients today. For the first time, the total number of COVID-19 patients in ICU has declined. Scientists from 6 universities also agree: this is the result of measures and the treatment. The outcomes that we can get with the measures are obvious," he wrote on Twitter.

Turkey reported 95 additional deaths Saturday from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the figure to 1,101.

The number of diagnosed cases surged to 52,167 as 5,138 tested positive for the virus, said Koca.

The pandemic has killed nearly 108,200, and infected more than 1.76 million, while greater than 401,800 have recovered, according to figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.