Turkey reports over 19,000 new COVID-19 cases

By Seda Sevencan and Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Tuesday reported 19,256 more coronavirus infections and 251 new fatalities over the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data.

The new cases include 3,309 symptomatic patients and the total number of infections exceeded 2 million.

As many as 32,110 people also recovered in the past day, bringing the tally to 1,866,815, while the death toll climbed to 18,602.

An additional 192,316 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country, pushing the total to over 22.82 million.

The number of patients in critical condition, meanwhile, stands at 5,008.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca noted that the number of active and critical cases are dropping.

However, infections within the family are on the rise, he added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 1.70 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December.

Over 77.55 million cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 43.78 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

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

While new restrictions are being imposed ahead of the holiday season, especially across Europe, countries are approving and procuring vaccines to pave the way toward the end of the pandemic.