UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY TURKISH HEALTH MINISTER
By Sena Guler and Merve Aydogan
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey on Tuesday reported 7,906 new coronavirus infections, including 658 symptomatic patients, and 90 fatalities, according to Health Ministry data.
The overall case count has now topped 2.6 million, with the death toll reaching 27,652, the ministry data showed.
Some 7,189 more patients won their battle against the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to nearly 2.5 million.
The number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 1,201, the latest figures showed.
Around 31.75 million tests have been done in Turkey to date, including 115,794 over the past day.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shared a statement on Twitter with details of the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board's latest meeting.
"We are about to complete Phase 1 in the vaccination of priority groups identified by our Scientific Board," he said.
Noting that the number of daily infections in Turkey is within the range of 7,000 to 8,000, the minister said: "We are conducting an effective study against mutations [of COVID-19] in our country."
"Despite this, the transmission rate of some mutations is much higher. We have to persistently continue to comply with the measures without ignoring the risk," he warned.
On Jan. 14, Turkey kicked off a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign starting with healthcare workers. Over 5 million coronavirus vaccine jabs have been administered across the country so far.
Since December, Turkey has had curfews on weeknights and weekends to curb the virus' spread.
The pandemic has claimed more than 2.41 million lives in 192 countries and regions since it first appeared in December 2019.
Over 109 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now above 61.46 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of case numbers.
