Muhammed Enes Calli
12 March 2020•Update: 13 March 2020
ANKARA
Spectators will not be allowed at any sporting event in Turkey until the end of April as part of measures to avert a coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The decision was announced by presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin at a press conference in the capital Ankara on Thursday evening.
“All sporting events in the country until the end of April will be without fans," he told reporters after a meeting held at the presidential complex to finalize Turkey’s coronavirus protection plan.
Weeks after most countries had dozens or hundreds of cases, and amid stringent measures to prevent its spread, Turkey announced its first coronavirus case early on Wednesday.
The patient is a man who had recently visited Europe, and Kalin said his condition was now stable.
Since originating in Wuhan, China, last December, the virus has spread to more than 110 countries.
The global death toll has surpassed 4,600, with more than 124,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic.
