Turkey’s coronavirus death toll rises by 48 to 3,689, with 1,848 cases

Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 48 to total 3,689 and new confirmed cases rose by 1,848 to bring the country’s total to 135,569, Health Ministry data showed on May 8.

Friday May 08 2020 07:40 pm

Duvar English

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Turkey has risen by 48 in the last 24 hours to 3,689, Health Ministry data showed on May 8.

The overall number of cases rose by 1,848 to 135,569, the data showed, the highest total outside Western Europe, the United States and Russia. The number of daily deaths and new cases has fallen sharply from peaks recorded last month.

"The number of total patients who have recovered has exceeded 85,000. There is again a fall in the number of new cases, deaths, patients in intensive care and intubated patients in the last 24 hours," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter.

Toplam iyileşen hasta sayısı 85 bini aştı. Son 24 saatteki vaka, vefat, yoğun bakım, entübe hasta sayısında yine düşüş var. Tablo, virüsle mücadelemizde lehimize veriler ortaya koyuyor. Ama bunlar kesin sonuçlar değil, ciddi bir fırsat. Fırsatı kullanalım. https://t.co/RVlhe7786O pic.twitter.com/6IKy8JoeBm
— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) May 8, 2020

Koca said on May 6 that Turkey has entered “a new phase” in the battle against the virus. He said that in this new phase, the country aims to eliminate the disease, reopen businesses and set new social behavior guidelines to prevent any resurgence of the outbreak.

“The coronavirus outbreak is currently under control in Turkey… We aim to eliminate coronavirus in the second phase. We are shifting towards a new way of life,” Koca told a news conference.