By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur, Burak Dag, and Jeyhun Aliyev
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Friday confirmed 1,242 daily recoveries from the novel coronavirus as the country continues easing measures against the pandemic, according to the health minister.
The total number of people winning the battle against the disease hit 149,102, while 664 patients remained in intensive care, Fahrettin Koca shared on Twitter, citing Health Ministry data.
"The rise in the number of intensive care and intubated patients is within the range of expected increase. The spread of the virus is due to a false optimism," he said and urged people to follow the measures of using face masks, social distancing and hygiene rules.
The country's death toll from the virus rose to 4,778, as it reported 15 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.
Healthcare professionals performed over 41,000 tests for the disease in the past day, raising the total number to more than 2.54 million.
According to test results, the total number of COVID-19 cases nationwide reached 175,218 with nearly 1,200 new infections.
Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.
The US, Brazil, Russia and several European countries are currently the hardest hit in the world.
The pandemic has killed over 422,700 people worldwide, with more than 7.55 million confirmed cases and over 3.57 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.