ANKARA
Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic and other news in Turkey and around the world.
Developments in Turkey
Turkey’s sigh of relief continues as nearly 90,000 patients have recovered from the novel coronavirus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Saturday.
The death toll from the virus rose to 3,739 with 50 additional deaths, while 3,084 patients recovered in the past 24 hours. It registered 1,546 new cases, bringing its tally to 137,115, said Koca.
The country continues a weekend lockdown in 24 provinces, which began midnight Friday in an effort to stem spread of COVID-19.
Apart from its successful fight against the virus, Turkey’s also extends a helping hand to countries around the globe.
Dozens of vulnerable families from a slum in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi received food and non-food assistance Saturday from the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).
The aid agency also distributed Ramadan food packages Friday and hygiene kits to 180 refugee families in Tunisia.
Turkey has repatriated nearly 70,000 nationals from 107 nations, under instructions by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and in coordination with the foreign ministry.
As the pandemic brought university campuses to a standstill, a group of Turkish students launched a virtual library to to help each other despite being isolated in their homes. You may read the features story on it here.
While people spend more time surfing the internet during the lockdown, Turkish television series, Resurrection: Ertugrul, is set to break a world record for the most new subscribers in a month on YouTube.
Coronavirus around the globe
The coronavirus continued to claim lives around the world. The global tally for infections surpassed 4 million early Sunday, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
Italy reported 194 new fatalities from the virus, bringing the total there to 30,395, as the number of infections continued to fall and those recovering surpassed the 100,000 mark.
Britain seeks to avoid a second wave of the virus and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to give a speech Sunday outlining a “roadmap” to easing the lockdown, where it is anticipated he will announce air passengers arriving in the UK will have to quarantine for two weeks.
Authorities announced the total number of deaths from the virus rose to 31,587 in Britain, an increase of 346 in the past 24 hours.
France registered a sharp decline in daily fatalities, recording 81 fatalities in the past 24 hours, down from 250 from Friday, according to health officials.
As the numbers of deaths fall, just over half of Spain's population is preparing for eased lockdown measures as the country registered 179 additional deaths and 604 new cases Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russia completed a week of more than 10,000 daily new cases Saturday, but reported its highest single-day tally for recoveries. The death toll rose to 1,827 as 104 more fatalities were recorded since Friday.
The death toll in Iran rose to 6,589 with 48 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
Tunisia confirmed a new fatality, while Morocco, Oman and Yemen reported new infections. More details are here.
Indonesia reported its highest daily rise in COVID-19 cases Saturday. It confirmed 533 new cases, raising that tally to 13,645.
Airlines worldwide have been severely affected by the pandemic and operating on a tiny fraction of normal capacity as the virus continued to strike almost every country at a rapid-fire pace.
Other developments
Turkey’s president on Saturday sent a celebration message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also marked Europe Day saying the EU would come out of its current pandemic-induced crisis stronger with the right and timely steps.
Turkey neutralized more than 1,300 terrorists in five different operational areas since the beginning of 2020, said the national defense minister.
The conflict in Libya continues to escalate. At least six civilians were killed in rocket attacks by warlord Khalifa Haftar's militia at the Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli.
Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj criticized the international community for staying silent in the face of the attacks, adding that attacks by Haftar’s forces left the Libyan government "no choice but to respond."
Fifty people lost their lives due to the chikungunya fever, a mosquito-borne disease, in Yemen's temporary capital of Aden, while more than 3,000 were infected.
Former British Ambassador in Libya Peter Millet has called for an investigation into the use of banned chemical weapons in Libya.
Iraq seeks to enhance bilateral relations in all fields with Turkey, the country’s newly-elected Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Saturday.
As the world prepares to celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, India is expected to see 20.1 million pregnancies and births after the eruption of the coronavirus outbreak there, according to estimates by UNICEF.
