COVID-19: Turkey reports over 1,200 recoveries

ANKARA

Turkey on Thursday reported more than 1,200 new recoveries from the novel coronavirus, with 1,600 more infections over the past 24 hours, the country's health minister said.

Citing Health Ministry data, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 1,642 new cases have raised the country's overall count to 274,943.

He also said 1,211 more patients recovered over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 248,087.

The death toll in the country rose to 6,511 as 49 more people died over the past day, he added.

"Pneumonia rates in our five provinces with the highest number of patients; Ankara with 4.7%, Istanbul 4.61%, Konya 8.78%, Kayseri 6.49%, Diyarbakir 8.37%," he said on Twitter.

A total of 110,225 more COVID-19 tests were done over the past 24 hours, pushing the total up to over 7.46 million.

According to Health Ministry data, 7.6% of the total patients are suffering from pneumonia, while the number of patients in critical condition stands at 1,041.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed 864,415 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 26.1 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding over 76.34 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.