Turkey quarantines 288 expats from US

By Hakan Burak Altunoz

TRABZON, Turkey (AA) - Turkish nationals were evacuated from the US early Monday and placed under a 14-day quarantine to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The 288 Turks, including 16 infants and 21 children, were taken to Trabzon province and later sent to a student dormitory for quarantine after health checks.

Turkey has repatriated nearly 70,000 nationals from 107 nations under instructions from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry.

Ankara said that as of Sunday, the country had a total of 149,435 coronavirus cases, 109,962 of which have fully recovered. The death toll stands at 4,140.

More than 4.71 million cases have been reported in 188 countries and regions since the virus emerged in Wuhan, China last December, with the hardest-hit areas being the US and Europe.

A significant portion of COVID-19 patients, nearly 1.74 million, have recovered, but the virus has claimed more than 315,000 lives, according to data compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.