Turkey to impose 2-day COVID-19 curfew in 15 provinces

ANKARA

Turkey will impose a two-day curfew in 15 provinces beginning midnight Friday in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed over 4,600 lives in the country.

The Interior Ministry said Thursday that the curfew will be in effect in Ankara as well as Istanbul, Izmir, Balikesir, Bursa, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Sakarya, Samsun, Van and Zonguldak.

Ahead of the curfew, markets, grocery stores, greengrocers and butchers will continue to operate until 23.00 local time (2000GMT) Friday, the statement said.

The same establishments will continue to operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time (0700-1400GMT) on June 6 but will close on June 7.

Bakeries will remain open during the curfew while restaurants will only offer takeaway services.

The first curfew was declared from April 11-12 and was followed by subsequent ones in recent weeks.

Turkey confirmed 167,410 cases Thursday, while recoveries surpassed 131,700.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 388,000 people worldwide, with more than 6.5 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 2.8 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.