ANKARA

Turkish health authorities on Thursday registered 1,721 more cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,241 recoveries in the past 24 hours.

The country's tally of COVID-19 infections reached 309,790, including 271,964 recoveries, according to the data released by the Health Ministry.

With 74 more fatalities, the death toll climbed to 7,785 in Turkey, which entered the "new normal" period in June.

Over 113,310 additional coronavirus tests were conducted by health professionals, bringing the total to 9.72 million.

"The number of patients in critical condition rose to 1,573," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Koca noted that the pneumonia rate continued to decrease on Thursday, inching down to 6.6%.

"Let's stand with our health workers by complying with measures," he said, urging people to follow rules on hygiene, mask-wearing and social distance.

The novel virus has claimed over 977,880 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 31.94 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 22 million. The US, India and Brazil currently have the highest number of infections.