Coronavirus death toll in Turkey tops 11,000

By Jeyhun Aliyev and Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - The COVID-19 death toll in Turkey is now over 11,000, according to figures released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday.

A total of 87 more virus-related fatalities were reported in the country over the past 24 hours, raising the overall count to 11,059.

Turkey also registered 2,529 new coronavirus patients, pushing the total up to 399,360, according to official data.

Recoveries increased by 2,215 over the past day to reach 342,501.

As many as 146,198 more COVID-19 tests were carried out across the country, bringing the total to nearly 15.42 million.

“The number of patients in critical condition has crossed 3,000,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

He stressed that it is imperative to curb new infections and the number of patients in critical condition.

“We can only achieve this by fighting [the pandemic] together and by following precautions. Wear a mask,” Koca said.

The ministry data showed that 4.2% of patients this week suffered from pneumonia, while the weekly hospital bed occupancy rate stood at 53.5%.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.26 million lives in 190 countries and regions since last December.

The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 50.91 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 33.28 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.