The Municipality of İstanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, has announced new measures aimed at bringing the surging number of coronavirus infections in the city under control.
According to a recent statement from Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, 40 percent of all coronavirus cases in Turkey are in İstanbul.
As part of new measures in İstanbul, the municipality has postponed the opening of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Art and Vocational Training (İSMEK) courses, and culture and sports centers and museums run by the municipality will be closed. Arts performances that take place indoors will be done online. The new measures will go into effect Nov. 19.
The municipality said in a statement that around half the coronavirus deaths in Turkey occur in İstanbul and that 2,000 municipal workers have been infected with the virus while 1,322 others are in quarantine.
According to Monday data from Turkey’s Health Ministry, the country conducted 151,516 tests and identified 3,316 coronavirus patients while 94 people died of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours.
The ministry reveals only the number of “patients” who are being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, while people who have been infected with the virus but not hospitalized are excluded from the numbers.