Turkey’s coronavirus death toll rises to 2,259 with 95,591 cases
Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 119 to total 2,259 and new confirmed cases rose by 4,611 to bring the country’s total to 95,591, Health Ministry data showed on April 21.
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Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 119 to total 2,259 and new confirmed cases rose by 4,611 to bring the country’s total to 95,591, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on April 21.
A total of 14,918 people have recovered from the new coronavirus so far, and the number of tests carried out over the past 24 hours stood at 39,429, Koca said.
On April 21, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the coronavirus outbreak in Turkey is starting to reach a plateau and the country aims to return to normal life after the end of Ramadan in late May.
"This pandemic has become the biggest crisis since the Second World War in terms of its economic consequences," Erdoğan was cited as saying at a video conference meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials.
"We aim to achieve maximum observance of measures during the month of Ramadan and, God willing, a transition to normal life for our country after the holiday (at the end of Ramadan)," he said.
As part of efforts to tighten those measures, Erdoğan said on April 20 a four-day lockdown would be imposed in 31 provinces between April 23-26 after similar stay-at-home orders were enforced over the last two weekends.
April 23 is National Sovereignty and Children's Day, while April 24 marks the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Turkish authorities said grocery shops will remain open until 2 p.m. on April 24 and 25 for people to make essential purchases.