By Muhammet Boztepe
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey quarantined a total of 39 settlements to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The settlements, including one district, six neighborhoods, 28 villages and four hamlets in 18 provinces, will be in quarantine as of 3.15 p.m [1215GMT] on Monday.
The decision came as part of efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure social isolation in these settlements, the ministry added.
Turkey has 9,217 confirmed COVID-19 cases and the death toll stands at 131.
The novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China in December. There are currently more than 737,000 cases worldwide and nearly 35,000 reported deaths with over 156,000 recoveries, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar