Istanbul: Food coming to needy seniors under curfew

By Hanife Sevinc and Mehmet Kara

ISTANBUL (AA) – Istanbul’s governorship will be delivering food packages for six weeks to some 50,000 citizens who are 65 or older and not able to maintain themselves financially, said Governor Ali Yerlikaya on Friday.

Last Saturday, the state put a curfew on people over 65 or with chronic diseases – two groups especially susceptible to coronavirus – and since then, the governorship has come to the aid of nearly 40,000 people in these groups, he added.

As of yesterday, Turkey’s health minister confirmed 16 more deaths from novel coronavirus, raising the death toll to 75, while the number of cases rose to 3,629.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, in December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 175 countries and regions, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

There have been nearly 550,000 cases worldwide, with nearly 25,000 deaths and over 127,000 recoveries.