Turkey reports 1,243 new coronavirus cases

By Havva Kara Aydin and Firdevs Bulut Kartal

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Thursday confirmed 1,243 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the tally to 245,635.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 968 more patients recovered over the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of recoveries to 228,057.

The death toll in the country reached 5,912 as 21 more people lost their lives over the past day.

Health care professionals conducted 66,892 tests to diagnose the disease over the past day, taking the tally to over 5.5 million.

Of those infected, 7.9% are suffering from pneumonia.

Koca said the number of patients in critical condition increased to 647, which is up by 15, adding the increase in the number of patients is speeding up.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 750,700 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December.

The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

Nearly 20.7 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 12.86 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.