2.5 per 1,000 tested positive for virus: Turkish health minister

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - A recent random nationwide COVID-19 screening in Turkey found a positive incidence of 2.5 people per 1,000, said Turkey’s health minister on Friday.

In a total 150,000 tests administered throughout Turkey, at least 375 people tested positive, said Fahrettin Koca on Twitter.

The same study, he said, found almost half of Turkey's 223,315 COVID-19 cases in Istanbul – the metropolis with nearly a fifth of Turkey’s population, which to date has also seen more than half of its coronavirus-related deaths.

"In the screening study done by our ministry, where 46% of the cases were found in Istanbul, 2.9 out of every 1,000 people tested randomly were found to be positive. This rate is 13.8% higher than the rest of the country," he added.

Koca urged all members of the public to be careful for the good of everyone and not do anything that would risk lives.

In the latest figures announced Thursday night, Turkey continued its positive trend of more people recovering from coronavirus than contracting it.

The country's health minister said there were 1,151 more recoveries from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 206,365, while 913 people contracted the virus, bringing the total to date to 223,315.