Over 39,000 new COVID-19 cases registered across Turkey

By Merve Berker and Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Wednesday reported more than 39,000 new coronavirus cases, the Health Ministry said.

A total of 39,302 cases, including 1,401 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country in the last 24 hours.

Turkey's overall case tally is now over 3.3 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 31,537 with 152 more fatalities over the past day.

As many as 19,193 more patients won the battle against the disease, bringing the number of recoveries to over 3 million.

More than 38.5 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 240,012 done since Tuesday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 2,082.

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 9.14 million people to date have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to more than 6.89 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 128.49 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now numbering over 72.86 million.