Total number of coronavirus cases rises to 6 in Turkey

Turkey confirmed a sixth case of the coronavirus after a Turkish citizen who had returned from Saudi Arabia within the past week tested positive, the health minister said on Saturday.

Minister Fahrettin Koca said the government was concerned about the new cases and urged citizens to administer self-quarantine for 14 days after returning from abroad. “Having passed health screening tests does not mean you don’t carry any risks,” Koca said.

The new case is the first diagnosis that is not related to the five cases previously confirmed. Those were all family members of the Turkish man who contracted the virus during his travel to Europe.

Koca said the government is working on launching a special coronavirus hotline, which will help citizens determine if they are infected with the virus known as COVID-19.

Turkey announced that inbound flights from nine European countries – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden – have been suspended until April 17. Turkish authorities previously halted flights to and from China, Iran, Iraq, Italy and South Korea. Turkey will also halt passengers arriving from these nine countries at all border crossings, from Saturday morning, Interior Ministry said in a notice shared late on Friday.

On Saturday, the number of coronavirus cases worldwide crossed 150,000 driven largely by a spike in infections in Italy, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. Italy announced 3,497 new cases, bringing the global total to 151,797, with 5,764 deaths across 137 countries and territories.

By 0900 GMT on Sunday, Asia had listed 91,707 cases and 3,317 deaths, Europe 44,747 cases and 1,786 deaths, the Middle East 14,011 cases for 625 deaths, the United States and Canada 3,128 cases for 52 deaths, Latin America and the Caribbean 448 cases and six deaths, Africa 280 cases and seven deaths, and Oceania 303 cases and three deaths.