Turkey lifts weekend coronavirus curfew in 24 provinces

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey lifted a 48-hour curfew as of midnight Sunday which had been imposed in 24 provinces as part of measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The government enforced its fifth weekend-long stay-at-home order, which included the Mother's Day holiday.

The curfew was in effect in the capital Ankara as well as Adana, Balikesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Mardin, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Tekirdag, Trabzon, Van and Zonguldak.

The country's first curfew was declared on April 11-12 and was followed by others in the past weeks.

However, Turkish senior citizens aged 65 and above, who have been restricted to their homes since March 21 as part of the country's fight against the pandemic, were given one-time permission to step out on Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands of elderly citizens across Turkey, remaining within walking distance and wearing masks, took a breath of fresh air between 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) and 3 p.m. (1200 GMT).

Children under 14 years old will be allowed out on May 13 during the same hours, while 15-20- year-olds will be able to leave their homes on May 15, also within walking distance and wearing masks.

Turkey introduced stay-home orders for those over the age of 65 on March 21, while those under 20 years old have been restricted since April 3 to stem the spread of COVID-19.

As of Sunday, Turkey registered a total of 3,786 deaths from the coronavirus, while 92,691 people have recovered from the disease. There are currently 138,657 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, while the total number of active cases has dropped to 42,180.

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

The pandemic has killed around 281,900 people worldwide, with more than 4 million infections, while recoveries exceed 1.39 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.