Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday said that Turkey has only been reporting symptomatic daily positive COVID-19 cases.
During a weekly news conference, Koca said the number of daily new COVID-19 "patients," which he defined as those who are symptomatic, was more important than the number of new "cases," which include those who do not show symptoms.
"Not all cases are patients because there are those who show no symptoms at all even though their tests come back positive. These create the vast majority," he said.
The Health Ministry changed the wording of the data it shares daily in July. As of July 29, the data showed the daily number of new "patients," while prior to that it showed the daily number of new "cases."
Koca also refuted a claim that Turkey's caseload is 19 times the official figures.
"I want to say that all the information on the table we give is correct," he said.
The death toll from coronavirus in Turkey stood at 8,195 as of Wednesday, while caseload reached 318,663.
