Turkey’s coronavirus death toll reaches 1,198 with 56,956 cases

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Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 97 to total 1,198 and new confirmed cases rose by 4,789 to bring the country’s total to 56,956, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on April 12. 

The number of recovered cases stood at 3,446, with 481 recoveries in the last 24 hours, and the number of tests carried out in that time was 35,720, Koca said on Twitter, sharing the Health Ministry’s link for daily updates of coronavirus figures.   

Yoğun bakıma geçişte azalma eğilimi sürüyor. Entübe edilen hasta sayısında düşüş var. Daha çok test yaptıkça, öngörülebilir şekilde daha çok vaka tespit ve izole ediliyor. Tedavide güçlüyüz. Fakat bu mücadele hastanelerde değil, evde kalarak kazanılır!https://t.co/RVlhe7786O pic.twitter.com/ndEo8NAufH

— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) April 12, 2020

Turkey is currently treating 1,665 patients in intensive care units, according to the figures.

Turkish Interior Ministry late on April 10 imposed a two-day curfew in 31 large cities, including Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir, in response to the spread of Covid-19.

Several members of opposition parties have criticized the government for announcing the decision of the 48-hour curfew only two hours left to lockdown. The sudden announcement late on April 10 led to panic, with crowds rushing to markets and bakeries and flouting social distancing advice. 

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu said the municipality was not notified of the government’s decision and such unilateral sudden decisions result in panic. 

“The decision of curfew should not be taken all of a sudden. As the İBB [Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality], we have not been notified of this critical decision. We do not even know which of the services we will be providing tomorrow in Istanbul. Every decision which is not given with a common mind and cooperation only causes confusion and panic,” İmamoğlu said.

Turkish Health Minister 'was not notified of curfew beforehand'