Turkey: Over 70% coronavirus patients to date recovered

ANKARA

The total number of recoveries from coronavirus in Turkey is now nearly 99,000, or 70% of total confirmed cases in the country, the health minister said on Tuesday.

"The increase in the number of new cases is within predictable limits, 70% of total cases recovered," Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

A total of 3,109 coronavirus patients have recovered over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 98,889, he said.

The death toll from the pandemic rose to 3,894 as the country saw 53 more fatalities over the last day, Koca added.

The country also registered 1,704 new cases, bringing the tally to 141,475, he said, citing Health Ministry data.

As many as 37,351 tests were done in the country over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests to over 1.4 million, he said.

The number of patients in Turkey in intensive care and in need of ventilators continues to fall, he added.

Stressing the importance of social distancing and using masks, he urged the public to continue to avoid crowded places, even as measures to fight the virus’ spread are gradually relaxed.

Over 4.2 million cases have been reported in 187 countries since the virus emerged in China last December. The US and Europe are currently the hardest-hit areas.

A significant number of COVID-19 patients – over 1.4 million – have recovered worldwide, but the disease has claimed over 288,000 lives, according to data compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.