Turks mark major holiday under virus lockdown
A four-day curfew has Turkey locked down as health workers battle an outbreak that has now exceeded 100,000 cases.
ISTANBUL — Most Turks marked a national holiday under a full lockdown today as the country fights to contain one of the world’s fastest-spreading outbreaks of the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 100,000 people.
The country’s death toll from COVID-19 reached 2,491 after 115 people died in the last 24 hours, according to a tweet from Health Minister Fahrettin Koca. Another 3,116 people were diagnosed with the virus, bringing the total cases to 101,790. The number of daily deaths in Turkey has been declining each day since Saturday.
Recent figures suggest the rate of transmission appeared to be leveling off in Turkey, the World Health Organization said today, crediting mitigation measures taken by the government. “We are cautiously optimistic that the case numbers are stabilizing in Turkey,” Catherine Smallwood, a senior WHO emergency officer was quoted as saying by the BBC’s Turkish website.
The government has opted for rolling lockdowns on weekends and holidays in 31 cities, covering more than three-quarters of the population, rather than order a lengthy and general stay-at-home order in an effort to keep parts of the economy running during the pandemic. A four-day curfew began today to include National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, a public holiday.
