Turkey imposes 4-day curfew across country

By Cemil Murat Budak

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey imposed a four-day nationwide curfew during the Muslim Eid holiday beginning Friday midnight to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 4,200 lives in the country.

Although Turkey usually declares curfew at the weekends in the major cities, this one will cover all country for four days to include the Eid holiday which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Markets, grocery stores, greengrocers, and butchers will continue to operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time (0700-1400GMT) on May 23, but they will be closed on May 24-26.

Also, bakeries will remain open during the four-day curfew.

The first curfew was declared on April 11-12 and followed by others in the past weeks.

As of Friday, the country reported a total of 154,500 coronavirus cases, including 116,111 recoveries.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Russia, Brazil, and several European countries are currently the hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed over 336,400 people worldwide, with more than 5.17 million confirmed cases, while recoveries neared 2 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

* Writing by Handan Kazanci in Istanbul.