Turkey reports record high Covid-19 deaths for seventh day in a row

Photo: AA

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The Health Ministry reported 188 new coronavirus fatalities, the highest daily toll for the seventh day in a row, bringing the country's official tally to 13,746.

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality's (IMM) earlier announced that 213 people lost their lives due to "an infectious disease" in a day.

As the ministry figures have been disputed by medical organizations, the İstanbul municipality, which is led by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has been announcing the city's daily death toll since November 22.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported 31,219 cases and 6,514 "patients," or symptomatic cases. The total number of "patients" has exceeded 500,000.

The ministry started announcing the number of asymptomatic infections on November 25.

Previously, it was only announcing the number of symptomatic cases, or what it called "patients," Minister Fahrettin Koca admitted in late September amid growing suspicion on the accuracy of the official figures.

Table: Health Ministry

More than 176,650 coronavirus tests were conducted in the said period, taking the total to over 18.59 million.

The number of patients in critical condition now stands at 5,190.

"We need stricter protection and stricter measures. We have to continue fighting together," Koca said on Twitter, urging the nation to comply with the measures.

His statement came as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced new restrictions, including weeknight and weekend curfews, to curb the spread of the novel virus.

Figures announced by the Health Ministry since the start of the outbreak:

(VK)