Turkey pursues normalization drive as COVID-19 case counts rise
Turkish officials to maintain lighter COVID-19 restrictions through much of the country, as new infection numbers rise and vaccination campaigns continue.
ISTANBUL — Pushing forward with the normalization drive introduced March 1, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said lighter COVID-19 restrictions would remain in place throughout much of the country amid a rise in national infection rates early Tuesday.
"Normalization can be possible by following the measures," Koca said on Twitter, sharing a map of the latest coronavirus data by province in Turkey.
At the start of the month, the Turkish government implemented a national tier system that lifted social distancing measures in lower-risk provinces while maintaining weekend curfews and other restrictions in areas with higher contagion rates. When the system was launched, daily coronavirus cases hovered near 10,000 nationwide, but since then Turkish Health Ministry data has reported a gradual increase in infection rates, logging over 15,500 new cases Monday.
Despite the recent rise in cases, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the current measures would remain in place following a Cabinet meeting Monday, noting that the number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalized or placed in intensive care units had not increased.
