Virus cases decline in 80 of Turkey's provinces

By Ahmet Sertan Usul

ANKARA (AA) – Amid a full nationwide lockdown, coronavirus cases dropped in 80 of Turkey’s provinces between May 1-7, according to latest Health Ministry statistics.

The only province where the number of cases per 100,000 people increased was Ardahan in the country’s northeast.

Kirklareli, Canakkale, Duzce, Istanbul, and Tekirdag saw the sharpest declines compared to the week of April 24-30.

Sirnak, Mardin, Sanliurfa, Adana, and Van – all in Turkey’s east and southeast – have the lowest number of COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people.

As for Turkey’s hubs, the number of cases per 100,000 people dropped to 359 from 532 in Istanbul, 247 from 361 in the capital Ankara, and to 161 from 223 in Izmir.

Turkey’s overall case count was over 5.04 million cases as of Monday, including 4.74 million recoveries and 43,311 fatalities.

The government imposed a 17-day lockdown starting April 29, which will also cover this week’s Eid al-Fitr holidays.

Turkey has administered over 25.22 million coronavirus jabs since launching a mass vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, according to official figures.

More than 14.67 million people have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to over 10.55 million.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.3 million lives in 192 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

More than 159 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now over 95.13 million.

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

* Writing by Gozde Bayar