Historic Turkish city fights coronavirus in 3 languages

MARDIN, Turkey

Seeking to stem the coronavirus outbreak, a historical city in southeastern Turkey is making announcements in three different languages to urge the public to stay at home.

Public announcements in Mardin, a city near the Syrian border, in Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic urge people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary and for the elderly or infirm to stay at home period.

Over the weekend, Turkey imposed a curfew for people over 65 and/or with chronic diseases to not leave their homes, with some exceptions, also pledging to help people unable to go out take care of their needs.

Other measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic include banning public gatherings, closing schools and restaurants, and encouraging people to self-isolate.

To date, 30 people have died from the virus in Turkey, with 1,236 cases confirmed.

After surfacing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to 167 countries and regions, infecting over 350,000 people, according to latest figures by Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Research Centre. Over 15,000 deaths from the virus have also been confirmed.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut

MARDIN, Turkey

Seeking to stem the coronavirus outbreak, a historical city in southeastern Turkey is making announcements in three different languages to urge the public to stay at home.

Other measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic include banning public gatherings, closing schools and restaurants, and encouraging people to self-isolate.

To date, 30 people have died from the virus in Turkey, with 1,236 cases confirmed.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut