Turkey on Wednesday recorded 11,533 new coronavirus infections and 233 daily deaths due to COVID-19, data from the Health Ministry showed.
According to the data, around 218,000 coronavirus tests were carried out across the country over the past 24 hours.
With Wednesday’s figures, the total number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic’s start in the country stood at 5,151,038 – while the total death toll increased to 45,419.
The data also showed that 9,271 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the past day, increasing the total number of recoveries in the country to 4,980,516. That means the country has around 125,000 active cases.
After setting consecutive records with the number of daily cases reaching as high as 60,000, Ankara on April 29 imposed a 17-day total lockdown that brought life to a standstill across the country. The measures, however, proved effective as the number of daily infections rapidly declined.
As daily cases fell as much as 75%, Ankara on Monday decided to ease some of the restriction in what it called a "gradual normalization period."
The measures include a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and a full lockdown during the weekends.
Theaters, gyms, swimming pools and similar places will remain closed, while restaurants and cafes will be allowed to serve deliveries and take-away orders.
Introduced during the total lockdown period, the ban on intercity travel was eased, as well. People are allowed to travel between cities by car only when the curfew is not in effect, but travel by bus or airplane is allowed at all times.
In a meeting with the country's youth on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the government's aim was to reduce daily infections to as low as 5,000, signaling further ease on measures if the figure is reached.
