Forty-four more people have died of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Sunday, while the total number of cases has reached 149,435.
Turkey’s death toll stands at 4,140.
According to a chart posted on Twitter by the minister, 1,368 more cases were confirmed as a result of 35,369 tests conducted over the past 24 hours.
According to the data 1,825 people were released from hospitals in the same time period, bringing the number of recovered patients to 109,962.
The minister said an expected decline has taken place in the number of new COVID-19 cases, while there are fluctuations in some figures in the general picture.
“Staying at home plays a big role in our fight against the spread of the coronavirus. Let’s stay at home tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” tweeted the minister, referring to a four-day-long curfew imposed in Turkey’s 15 major cities to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Turkey recorded its first COVID-19 case on March 11.
The Turkish Medical Association (TMA) says Turkey’s official coronavirus death statistics do not include cases that strongly indicate COVID-19 but test negative.
Turkey has not implemented a full lockdown, and curfews are imposed in 15 major cities only on weekends. People aged 65 and over as well as those 20 and under are prohibited from going outside as part of measures to contain the epidemic.
First seen in the Chinese city of Wuhan, COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world, infecting over 4,769,437 people worldwide and killing at least 314,501as of Sunday. Some 1,842,896 people have recovered, according to Worldometers.info.