Turkey records over 70 daily coronavirus deaths for first time since May

Duvar English

Turkey on Sept. 23 reported 72 daily coronavirus deaths — its highest since the beginning of May. The country had registered 78 fatalities from the virus on May 2, and since then daily virus deaths had remained below 70 – i.e. until Sept. 23.

According to the Health Ministry data, the country reported 1,767 new virus cases and 1,027 recoveries. The overall case count now stands at 308,069, with 270,723 recoveries.

The figures also showed that the number of patients in critical condition has risen to 1,561, while 6.7 percent suffer from pneumonia.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca once again urged the public to comply with the measures. “The number of our active patients continues to rise. We have new 1,767 patients today. Let's implement the measures all together, for our health system to stay sustainable and our health personnel to be able to give service,” Koca wrote on Twitter.

Ağır hasta sayımız bugün 1.561’e yükseldi. Aktif hasta sayımız artmaya devam ediyor. Bugün tespit edilen 1.767 yeni hastamız var. Sağlık sistemimizin sürdürülebilir ve sağlık çalışanlarımızın hizmet verebilir kalmaları için tedbirleri birlikte uygulayalım. https://t.co/RVlhe7786O

— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) September 23, 2020

Turkey’s daily infection and death toll in the last few weeks has reached similar figures last recorded in May. The infections have begun to spike on a daily basis after falling to as low as 902 on July 22.

The government loosened restrictions on public activity starting in June. Ankara's “normalization” plan has been slammed by critics, who said that authorities were offloading the blame on citizens and the burden on healthcare staff.

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