Turkey Confirms Over 11,000 Fresh COVID-19 Infections

Turkey confirmed more than 11,000 new coronavirus infections on Saturday.

A total of 11,472 cases, including 1,084 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country, according to latest Health Ministry data.

Turkey’s overall case tally is now over 5.1 million, while the death toll reached 44,537, with 236 more fatalities over the past day.

As many as 38,814 more patients won the battle against the virus, taking the total number of recoveries past 4.93 million.

More than 50.66 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 204,637 more done since Friday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 2,563.

Turkey has administered over 25.71 million coronavirus jabs since launching a mass vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, according to official figures.

More than 14.91 million people have received their first doses, while over 10.8 million have been fully vaccinated.

Turkey entered a 17-day lockdown on April 29 and the measures led to a drop in cases across the country.

According to the Health Ministry, the number of infections fell in 80 of Turkey’s 81 provinces in the May 1-7 week.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey will gradually begin lifting lockdown restrictions starting next week.

The restrictions will be eased in phases until the end of May and significantly as of June.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.36 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 162 million cases reported worldwide, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

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