Turkey reports 1,721 new coronavirus cases
People wearing masks walk along a street in the capital Ankara, Turkey, Sept. 18, 2020. (AFP Photo)


Turkey on Thursday reported 1,721 new COVID-19 cases and 74 deaths over the previous day.

The new cases were found in more than 110,000 coronavirus tests, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 309,790, according to the Health Ministry.

With Thursday’s fatalities, the death toll from COVID-19 since the outbreak began in Turkey has increased to 7,785.

Meanwhile, the total number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 increased to 271,964, with 1,241 patients declared free of the coronavirus in the past day.

"Pneumonia rate among the patients continues to decline. We recorded 1,721 new patients. Our health workers are devoted to (fighting the disease). Let's give them a hand by following the precautions," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter.

After going through the worst of the outbreak and managing to lower the number of daily cases below 1,000, Turkey has been witnessing a resurgence in new infections.

In an effort to halt the steadily rising infection rates, the government introduced several measures. It made wearing masks outside mandatory across all provinces and running mass transits at a reduced capacity.

The Education Ministry also scrapped its plans to fully reopen schools, opting for a partial opening with only kindergarteners and first-graders going back to the classrooms, while the rest will continue their education online.