Turkiye reports over 86,000 new COVID-19 cases

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye reported 86,600 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

According to data shared by the Health Ministry, 268 people lost their lives and 95,526 others recovered from the disease over the past day.

Also, as many as 464,085 virus tests were done nationwide in the past 24 hours.

To counter the spread of the virus, Turkiye has administered over 145.24 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January 2021.

More than 57.65 million people have received a first vaccine jab, while over 52.76 million have received two doses. Third booster shots have been given to more than 26.87 million people.

Turkiye's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter said the pandemic has evolved from being an infectious disease threatening the entire society to targeting certain risk groups.

"We must focus on these risk groups in the fight (against the virus)," Koca added.

Since December 2019, the virus has claimed over 5.91 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with over 428.4 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.