Turkey: New coronavirus quarantines in 58 provinces

By Orhan Onur Gemici and Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - As part of the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, Turkey is imposing quarantines on 227 residential areas in 58 provinces, said the Interior Ministry on Wednesday.

The areas are home to some 250,00 people, said a ministry statement, but did not supply further details.

The ministry also said it is lifting quarantine measures on 41 residential areas in 14 provinces of the country.

Turkey on Tuesday confirmed 107 more deaths from the novel coronavirus in the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 1,403. The total number of registered coronavirus cases surged to 65,111. Also, a total of 4,799 people have so far recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

After first appearing in China in late last year, the virus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions, according to data compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows nearly 2 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll topping 128,000 and over a half-million recoveries.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut