At least 5,800 people in Turkey recover from COVID in past 24 hours

By Burak Dag and Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - Another 5,846 people in Turkey won their battle against the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s total number of recoveries past 5.25 million, according to official figures released Thursday.

A total of 5,703 cases, including 498 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country in the same period, according to the latest data from the Health Ministry.

Turkey's overall case tally is now over 5.39 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 49,417 with 59 new fatalities.

The latest figures put the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition at 752.

Over 59.44 million coronavirus tests have been done to date.

Additionally, over 45.49 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered since the country launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January.

More than 30.77 million people have received their first doses, while over 14.71 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry’s count showed.

Turkey lowered the COVID-19 vaccination eligibility age to 18 on Wednesday, with appointments to be scheduled as of Friday, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also on Tuesday unveiled Turkovac, the country's homegrown COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which has entered Phase 3 clinical trials.

Amid a nationwide fall in COVID-19 cases, Turkey is set to end all restrictions, which include nighttime curfews and a full lockdown on Sundays, as of July 1.

On June 1, the country eased some measures following a 17-day strict lockdown.

Since December 2019, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 3.89 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 179.7 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.