ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey reported a rise in the daily number of coronavirus-related deaths and new cases on Friday to levels last seen near the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in April.
The health ministry said 93 COVID-19 deaths and 3,045 new infections had been recorded in the last 24 hours, and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stressed on Twitter the need to wear masks. Ankara only reports cases that show symptoms.
More than 11,300 people have now died in Turkey and the country has adopted some new restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
Turkey’s pandemic peaked in mid-April and infections were last at current levels later that month, when a nationwide partial lockdown was in place. President Tayyip Erdogan said last month that new measures were being mulled to curb the new rise.
This month the government ordered all businesses to close by 10 p.m. and narrowed the hours when those aged 65 and older were allowed to leave home.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Alex Richardson)
