COVID-19: Turkey reports over 1,000 more recoveries

By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur and Havva Kara Aydin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Friday reported more than 1,000 new recoveries from the novel coronavirus, with over 1,600 infections over the past 24 hours, the country's health minister said.

Citing Health Ministry data, Fahrettin Koca said 1,612 new cases have raised the country's overall count to 276,555.

He also said 1,021 more patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 249,108.

The death toll in the country rose to 6,564 as 53 more people died over the past day, he added.

"The rise in the number of patients in critical condition continues. The number of recovered patients is still less than the number of new patients," Koca said on Twitter.

A total of 117,113 more COVID-19 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours, pushing the total up to over 7.58 million.

According to Health Ministry data, 7.5% of the total patients are suffering from pneumonia, while the number of patients in critical condition stands at 1,076.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed over 870,400 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

More than 26.39 million infections have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 17.56 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.