Turkey on Monday confirmed 1,233 new coronavirus cases and 22 deaths from COVID-19, according to the country's health minister.
According to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, the new infections were spotted in more than 74,000 tests carried out over the past day. With Monday’s numbers, Turkey’s total number of coronavirus cases surpassed 250,000, while the death toll increased to 5,996.
The minister also said 1,002 patients had recovered from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 231,971.
Koca warned that although new patients can easily recover from the disease, the rising infection rates also gave way to an increase in critically ill people.
Meanwhile, authorities in Ankara have introduced a set of new restrictions in order to halt the spread of the virus in the country’s capital.
According to new measures announced on Monday, people aged 65 and above, or those suffering from chronic diseases, will be prohibited from attending weddings, funerals, condolence visits, market places and social activities in Ankara.
The authorities also ordered all public transport vehicles to have Plexiglas separators installed between the driver and passenger side.
Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The U.S., Brazil, India and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.
The pandemic has killed nearly 776,400 people worldwide, with infections surpassing 21.74 million and recoveries over 13.74 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
