ANKARA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The daily new COVID-19 cases in Turkey's most populated cities, including country's biggest metropolis Istanbul, capital Ankara, western city of Izmir, and northwestern city of Bursa, are on the decrease, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Friday.

"In the last two weeks, there has been a 40-percent decrease in the number of daily cases in Istanbul and Izmir, and a nearly 60-percent decrease in Ankara and Bursa," Koca tweeted.

Turkey reported on Friday 11,479 COVID-19 cases, including 1,291 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,307,581, its health ministry announced.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 186 to 22,450, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,182,145 after 9,894 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.

Turkey reported its first COVID-19 case on March 11, 2020.

Turkey and China have supported each other in the fight against COVID-19. Chinese doctors and medical experts held video conferences with Turkish counterparts to share China's experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus.

The first batch of 3 million doses of China's SinoVac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Ankara on Dec. 30, 2020. Mass vaccination will start after tests, Koca said. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)