Turkey reports over 5,800 new coronavirus cases

By Ahmet Gencturk and Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Saturday reported 5,856 new coronavirus infections, including 723 symptomatic patients, according to Health Ministry data.

Turkey's current case tally passed 2.42 million, while the nationwide death toll reached 24,933, with 144 more fatalities over the past day.

As many as 5,811 more patients in the country won the battle against the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 2.3 million.

More than 28.34 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 152,758 done since Friday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition dropped to 1,962.

On Jan. 14, Turkey began a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign, starting with healthcare workers along with top officials to encourage public confidence in the vaccines.

So far, over 1.2 million people in the country have received their first doses of the Chinese vaccine CoronaVac, according to the Health Ministry.

Since last month, Turkey has been imposing curfews as part of its efforts to curb the virus's spread.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 2.11 million lives in 192 countries and regions.

More than 98.38 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now over 54.30 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

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