Turkey's top examination board postpones nine tests

ANKARA

Turkey's top examination board announced on Thursday that it would postpone nine tests included in 2020 as part of measures taken against the novel coronavirus.

The Measuring, Selection and Placement Center (OSYM) said in a statement that the exams including official foreign language tests, as well as various student and professional placement and entrance exams originally planned for late March and April, had been postponed to May-October.

Also, the second round of an entrance exam for academic personnel and postgraduate studies planned for Sept. 20 was moved to an earlier date for Aug. 16.

A professional health and safety test was also pulled forward to Aug. 29 after being previously set to May 16.

Late on Wednesday, Turkey confirmed its second death from the novel coronavirus -- a 61-year-old man. There are now nearly 200 confirmed cases in the country.

The virus emerged in Wuhan, China, last December, and has spread to at least 164 countries and territories around the globe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Out of over 218,000 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 8,800, while more than 84,000 have recovered, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is not fatal in all cases and a vast majority of patients do fully recover.

*Writing by Merve Gul Aydogan Aglarci