Turkey imposes 3-day virus curfew in 31 provinces

By Ali Murat Alhas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has imposed a 3-day curfew in 31 provinces beginning Thursday midnight in an effort to stem spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed 3,174 lives in the country.

The curfew is going to be effective in the capital Ankara as well as Adana, Antalya, Aydin, Balikesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Tekirdag, Trabzon, Van and Zonguldak.

Although the country seems to have a tendency to declare curfew at the weekends, this period was extended to three days as May 1 is celebrated as an official holiday in the country.

The first curfew was declared on April 11-12 and it was followed by another one in the past week.

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.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 187 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed over 230,600 worldwide, with more than 3.24 million infections, while recoveries have exceeded 1 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.