Turkey reports 203 daily COVID-19 deaths
A Turkish police drone announces social distancing rules in English via a speaker as people walk on Istiklal avenue during a weekend curfew aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Istanbul, Dec. 5, 2020. (AFP Photo)


Turkey's daily coronavirus deaths rose to a record 203 in the last 24 hours, data from the Health Ministry showed on Monday.

The country's total death toll reached to 15,103 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Turkey also recorded 32,137 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, including 6,420 patients. The rest are asymptomatic. For four months, Ankara only reported daily symptomatic cases but has reported all cases since Nov. 25.

Meanwhile, the number of patients in critical condition is decreasing, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a Twitter statement, who added that the new round of restrictions has started to be more effective in combatting the outbreak.

Turkey was on lockdown over the weekend to combat the recent surge in daily deaths and new infections. On Friday, Turkey had 32,736 new cases, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic in March.

Some 196,902 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 19,888,747. A total of 5,017 patients recovered in the past 24 hours. The total number of recovered patients has reached 436,270.