ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday imposed a nationwide “full closure” until May 17 including a continuous lockdown, school closures and intercity travel restrictions to curb a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths.
Total daily cases in Turkey had peaked above 63,000 on April 16 before dropping sharply to below 39,000 on Sunday, while the daily death toll has remained above 300 for the past week.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said all intercity travel would need approval from authorities and all schools would stop in-person classes.
He said the manufacturing and food sectors would be exempt from the new restrictions. Daily case numbers needed to fall below 5,000 by the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, he added.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
