Turkey reports over 16,700 new coronavirus cases

By Burak Bir, Burak Dag, and Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Tuesday reported 16,749 new coronavirus cases, including 874 symptomatic patients, according to the Health Ministry.

The total number of cases in the country passed 2.91 million, while the nationwide death toll reached 29,623, with 71 fatalities over the past day.

A total of 17,893 more patients in the country won the battle against the virus, raising the overall number of recoveries above 2.73 million.

More than 35.43 million coronavirus tests have been done in Turkey to date, including 158,386 since Monday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 1,474.

So far, over 11.95 million vaccine doses have been administered across Turkey, according to official figures. These include 7.96 million first doses and 3.98 million second doses.

Also, as of Monday, all travelers who enter Turkey via airway need to fill out an traveler entry form electronically 72 hours before the departure of their flight.

The form can be accessed via the ministry's website at register.health.gov.tr. The passengers may either take a screenshot or hardcopy of the form to submit at their departure.

In a tweet, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Samsun, Kilis, Balikesir, Istanbul, and Yalova provinces over the last week had the highest rises in the number of cases for a population of 100,000.

He added that Sakarya, Ordu, Amasya, Rize, and Burdur recorded the highest drops in infections per 100,000 people.

Turkey launched a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in January, followed by a gradual normalization from coronavirus restrictions as of March 1.

Since it originated in China in December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.66 million lives in 192 countries and regions.

Over 120 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now exceeding 68 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

The US, Brazil, and India remain the worst-hit countries in terms of cases.