Turkish people wearing protective face masks walking at Galata bridge during coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Istanbul, Turkey on Nov. 16, 2020. (Getty File Photo)
Turkey reported more than 21,000 new coronavirus cases, according to Health Ministry data released Friday.
A total of 21,030 cases, including 934 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country, the data showed.
Turkey’s overall case tally is over 2.97 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 29,864 with 87 fatalities over the past day.
As many as 18,119 more patients in the country won the battle against the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 2.78 million.
More than 35.97 million coronavirus tests have been done in Turkey to date, with 187,859 done since Thursday.
The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition rose to 1,547.
Since Turkey began a mass COVID-vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, it has administered over 13.01 million coronavirus vaccine jabs, according to official figures.
Over 8 million people to date have received their first doses of a vaccine against coronavirus, while second doses were given to more than 5 million.
Turkey started its mass vaccination campaign in January with CoronaVac which was developed by China’s Sinovac, first inoculating its health care workers. The country has gradually been administering the two doses of the vaccine to the public, first prioritizing elderly citizens. Koca said that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines would be offered to the next groups of people set to be vaccinated. Next week, the country will start vaccinating those between the ages of 60 and 65.
Turkey is also gearing up to acquire its first COVID-19 vaccine from another source: Pfizer-BioNtech.
Turkey initiated a normalization process this month, easing restrictions in provinces with low cases, lifting curfews as well as reopening restaurants and cafes. However, some provinces have seen a surge in cases this week, something linked to increased mobility in light of the normalization. Yet, the government is determined to stick to the plan and will implement restrictions only in provinces reporting high numbers of cases.
Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.69 million lives in 192 countries and regions.
Over 121.95 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now numbering over 69 million, according to figures compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.
