Turkey tests over 80,000 for COVID-19, cases over 1,200

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey confirmed 1,217 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, bringing the tally to 258,249.

In a tweet, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 795 more patients had recovered from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the overall number to 237,165.

Meanwhile, the death toll reached 6,121 as 19 more people lost their lives.

Healthcare professionals conducted 80,302 more tests to diagnose the virus over the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to more than 6.32 million.

Since it originated in China last December, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed nearly 806,000 lives in 188 countries and regions.

The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 23.2 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 14.9 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.