Turkey’s coronavirus caseload surpassed 2.64 million on Monday, while the nationwide death toll reached 28,138, with 78 fatalities over the past day.
Meanwhile, the country has also reported 8,104 new additional COVID-19 cases, including 623 symptomatic patients, and 5,690 more patients in the country recovered from the deadly virus bringing the total number of recoveries to over 2.52 million according to the Health Ministry.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 32.43 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Turkey, with 118,816 carried out in the last two days.
The latest statistics show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 1,189.
Turkey has accelerated its COVID-19 vaccination campaign since Jan. 14, starting with health care workers.
The mass inoculation started with senior citizens above the age of 65 as the total number of people who have received the vaccine passed 2.8 million people. The health workers were the first to receive the shots and the age limit will gradually drop in line with the plan made by the Health Ministry.
Those over the age of 65 and citizens who are not physically capable of leaving their homes are vaccinated by health workers who come to them.
Since last December, Turkey has had curfews on weeknights and weekends to curb the virus' spread.
Last week, Turkish officials also announced a gradual normalization from COVID-19 restrictions beginning in March.
People have been waiting patiently for the official announcement regarding the normalization and the Health Ministry shared on Twitter that as the cases continue to decrease, they urge the public to stick to the guidelines, wear a mask and maintain social distance.
Since December 2019, the virus has claimed more than 2.45 million lives in 192 countries worldwide.
Over 111.55 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now more than 62.92 million, according to figures compiled by the U.S.' Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S., India and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of cases.