By Halil Ibrahim Sincar
MARDIN, Turkey (AA) - Over 120 Turkish nationals who were evacuated from Iraq were placed under a 14-day quarantine on Friday to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
As many as 127 expats, who returned to Turkey via the Habur border gate in the southeastern Sirnak province, were sent to the southeastern Mardin province for a 14-day quarantine in dormitories after health checks.
The Turkish government has repatriated around 60,000 of its nationals from various countries since the start of the pandemic.
As of Thursday, Turkey registered a total of 3,174 deaths due to coronavirus whereas nearly 49,000 people have recovered from the disease. Currently, there are 120,204 confirmed cases in the country.
Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 187 countries and regions, with the US and Europe the hardest-hit areas.
The pandemic has killed nearly 234,000 worldwide, with more than 3.27 million infections, while recoveries have exceeded 1.02 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.