UPDATE - Turkey registers 1,665 new COVID-19 cases

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY HEALTH MINISTER

By Seda Sevencan and Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Friday reported 1,665 new coronavirus cases and 1,318 recoveries over the past 24 hours.

The country's overall case count now stands at 311,455 with 273,282 total recoveries, according to Health Ministry data.

A total of 112,885 more coronavirus tests were conducted over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to over 9.83 million.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey reached 7,858 with 73 new fatalities.

The figures also showed that the number of patients in critical condition now stands at 1,601, while 6.6% suffer from pneumonia.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 985,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December.

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

Over 32.38 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries surpassing 22.28 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

In a news conference in the Black Sea province of Samsun, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the bed capacity and intensive care services in hospitals are vital elements of the fight against the novel coronavirus.

While Turkey's overall bed occupancy rate in hospitals is 51%, the occupancy rate of intensive care units is 68%, Koca underlined.

He added that the occupancy rate of ventilators is 33%, which, according to Koca, indicates Turkey has not faced any deadlock in fighting the pandemic.