UPDATE - Turkey reports over 2,000 new coronavirus patients

UPDATES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Havva Kara Aydin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey registered 2,026 new coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data released on Monday.

The country’s overall tally now stands at 349,519, the ministry reported.

Some 1,424 more patients recovered over the past day, raising the count to 305,427, while the death toll rose by 75 to reach 9,371.

Around 116,249 more COVID-19 tests were carried out across the country, bringing the total to over 12.52 million.

The figures showed that the number of patients in critical condition currently stands at 1,447, with 5.6% this week suffering from pneumonia.

In a tweet, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said: “It is difficult to achieve success without reducing the number of serious patients,” urging the public to follow measures to stem the virus’ spread.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.11 million lives in 189 countries and regions since last December.

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

Over 40.26 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 27.55 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.