Turkey's new daily COVID-19 cases remained over 8,000 July 21 as images of holidaymakers at crowded beaches, bars and restaurants and large family gatherings to celebrate Eid dominated social media. 

The July 21 figure of 8,151 was a drop from the previous day's tally of 8,780 new cases, but still was nearly twice the number of new daily cases, 4,418, registered July 4. The rise comes amid concerns about the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. The number of Delta variant cases in Turkey more than doubled to approximately 750 from 284 in the space of a week, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca warned July 12. 

Koca, a prolific tweeter who issues terse warnings through his account, which has 7.3 million followers, shared news of the surge July 20. “The Eid should not offer an opportunity for the virus to spread. We can both celebrate [Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice] and remain vigilant,” he tweeted, urging holiday-makers to refrain from huge gatherings and get vaccinated while still on holidays, rather than wait. 

In Van, vaccination units were set up in the courtyards of local mosques to administer doses to people who had come to the places of worship for Eid morning prayers.