UPDATE - Turkey reports 31,800+ new coronavirus cases

UPDATES WITH HEALTH MINISTER’S TWEET, REVISES DECK

By Sena Guler

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey reported 31,896 more coronavirus patients, including 6,128 symptomatic patients, over the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data released on Saturday.

The country registered 4,100 more recoveries over the past day, bringing the tally to 427,242.

The new symptomatic cases raised the overall patient count to 533,198, while the death toll rose to 14,705, with 196 additions.

Nearly 179,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country, pushing the total to over 19.51 million.

The number of patients in critical condition now stands at 5,800.

- Case count starts going down in Istanbul

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that the curfews announced in the country last week only aim to protect public health.

"All of us should do our part and apply our own restrictions," Koca said, urging people to stay away from closed and crowded areas.

He said that they evaluated the situation in the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul with provincial health directors and chief physicians, like they do every week.

“With efforts and measures over the last month, a 25% decrease in case number is started to be seen this week,” he said, and added, however, burden on the intensive care units is ongoing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 1.52 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December.

Over 66.13 million cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 42.51 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

While the US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of cases, Europe is in the grip of a devastating second wave of infections.