By Seda Sevencan and Davut Demircan
ANKARA (AA) - Active cases of the novel coronavirus in Turkey continued to fall on Friday, with more daily recoveries than new infections, said the country's health minister.
A total of 1,492 people beat COVID-19 over the past day, bringing the overall count to 167,198 Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing Health Ministry data.
The country's death toll from the virus rose to 5,065, as it reported 19 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.
Some 963 patients remain in intensive care, added Koca.
Health care professionals conducted 51,198 tests for the disease in the past day, raising the total count to over 3.18 million.
According to test results, the total number of COVID-19 cases nationwide reached 194,511 with 1,396 new infections.
Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.
The pandemic has killed over 490,600 people worldwide, with nearly 9.6 million confirmed cases and more than 4.8 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.