Turkey reports record 40,800+ new COVID-19 cases

ANKARA

Turkey on Thursday reported more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases, the Health Ministry said, the highest single-day spike in the country since the beginning of the outbreak.

A total of 40,806 cases, including 1,424 symptomatic patients, were registered across the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 3.3 million.

The nationwide death toll has reached 31,713 with 176 more fatalities over the past day.

As many as 20,817 more patients won the battle against the disease, raising the number of recoveries to over 3 million.

More than 38.8 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 243,738 done since Tuesday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 2,135.

Since Turkey began a mass COVID-vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, it has administered over 16.03 million coronavirus vaccine jabs, according to official figures.

Over 9.3 million people to date have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to nearly 7 million.

In the face of rising case and fatality numbers, Turkey has announced the return of weekend curfews in high-risk areas, as well as other restrictions, in addition to special measures for the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.8 million lives in 192 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University. Over 129.1 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now numbering over 73.2 million.