Turkey reports 42,000+ new COVID-19 cases

By Havva Kara Aydin and Handan Kazanci

ANKARA / ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey on Friday reported more than 42,000 new coronavirus cases, the Health Ministry said, the highest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic.

A total of 42,308 cases, including 1,471 symptomatic patients, were registered across the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 3.4 million.

The nationwide death toll has reached 31,892 with 179 more fatalities over the past day.

As many as 24,419 more patients won the battle against the disease, raising the number of recoveries to over 3 million.

More than 39 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 248,968 done since Thursday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 2,182.

Since Turkey began a mass COVID-vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, it has administered over 16.58 million coronavirus vaccine jabs, according to official figures.

Over 9.4 million people to date have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to over 7 million.

In the face of rising case and fatality numbers, Turkey has announced the return of weekend curfews in high-risk areas, as well as other restrictions, in addition to special measures for the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.8 million lives in 192 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University. Over 129.7 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now numbering over 73.5 million.