Turkish, British defense chiefs discuss virus on phone

ANKARA

Defense ministers of Turkey and Britain discussed the cooperation in combatting the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.

Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said in a statement that Hulusi Akar and his British counterpart Ben Wallace addressed “the importance of cooperation and solidarity in the fight against COVID-19, bilateral and regional developments and defense industry cooperation.”

The conversation came after a cargo plane carrying medical equipment from Turkey reached the U.K. early Wednesday.

The novel coronavirus has spread to 185 countries and regions since emerging in Wuhan, China last December, with the U.S. and Europe being the hardest-hit.

More than 2.58 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll over 178,000 and some 696,000 recoveries, according to data compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.