Turkey releases weekly provincial COVID-19 statistics

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's health minister on Tuesday announced the latest weekly infection rates for COVID-19 across various regions of the country.

Sharing the data for April 24-30 on Twitter, Fahrettin Koca touted the country's current full lockdown, saying: “Measures and restrictions will make this map a better picture every day."

In Turkey’s largest cities, the number of cases per 100,000 people was 532 in the metropolis of Istanbul – home to nearly one-fifth of Turkey’s population – plus 361 in the capital Ankara and 223 in Izmir on the Aegean.

The provinces of Sirnak, Sanliurfa, Mardin, Siirt, and Van – in Turkey’s east and southeast – had the lowest COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people.

Since Turkey began a mass COVID-vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, it has administered over 23.8 million coronavirus vaccine jabs, according to official figures.

More than 14.1 million people to date have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to over 9.6 million.

To stem the spread of the virus, Turkey last Thursday began a nationwide lockdown set to last until May 17.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.2 million lives in 192 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 153.7 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now over 90.37 million.

The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of cases.​​​​​​​