Turkish foreign minister tests positive for COVID-19

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced Wednesday he tested positive for COVID-19.

“My test result came back positive for COVID-19 today,” he wrote on Twitter.

Cavusoglu said he has mild symptoms and will continue to work at home without any break.

Earlier this month, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum and National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar tested positive for COVID-19.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and First Lady Emine Erdogan also contracted the coronavirus at the beginning of this month. The Turkish president tested negative last week and his wife on Wednesday said she completed her isolation period.

According to the latest official data, Turkiye recorded 94,730 coronavirus infections, 309 related deaths, and 102,673 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To counter the spread of the virus, the country has administered over 144.32 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January 2021.

Since December 2019, the virus has claimed almost 5.84 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with nearly 415.8 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.