Turkey records under 1,000 new COVID-19 cases

By Handan Kazanci and Jeyhun Aliyev

ISTANBUL (AA) - New cases of novel coronavirus stood under 1,000 despite the high number of tests, Turkey's health minister announced Friday.

Turkey confirmed 952 new cases, bringing the total to 154,500, according to Health Ministry data shared by Fahrettin Koca on Twitter.

Recoveries from the disease hit 116,111 as 1,121 more patients were discharged from hospitals over the past day, Koca said.

The death toll from the outbreak rose to 4,276 as the country reported 27 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to the ministry data.

Healthcare professionals conducted more than 37,500 new tests, raising the overall number to over 1.76 million. There are currently 800 patients under intensive care, the data showed.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Russia, Brazil, and several European countries are currently the hardest-hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed over 335,400 people worldwide, with more than 5.15 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 1.98 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US.