Turkey reports 3,819 more coronavirus patients

By Burak Bir and Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey registered 3,819 more COVID-19 patients over the past 24 hours, according to figures released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday.

With the new cases raising the country’s overall count to 421,413, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a series of new measures to stem the virus’s spread, including a partial weekend curfew.

As many as 2,688 patients also recovered over the past day, pushing the tally to 359,063, while the death toll rose by 103 to reach 11,704.

Nearly 156,700 more tests were conducted across the country, taking the total to over 16.4 million.

Some 3,657 patients are in critical condition across Turkey, with the weekly hospital bed occupancy rate at 54.7%, according to the ministry’s figures.

The virus has claimed over 1.33 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

Nearly 55.3 million people have been infected worldwide, with more than 35.6 million having recovered to date, the data shows.