More than 62,000 cases were reported on Wednesday, bringing the country’s toll to more than four million since the start of the pandemic.
Turkey has recorded 62,797 new cases of coronavirus and 279 deaths in the past 24 hours, its highest daily figures since the start of the pandemic.
With Wednesday’s figures, the total number of recorded cases in Turkey has exceeded four million.
The total death toll rose to 34,737.
On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that from Wednesday several new restrictions and a “partial closure” for the first two weeks of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan would be put in place to curb the surge in cases.
“In the recent period, the increase in the number of cases and deaths, mainly in metropolitan cities, pushes us to tighten the measures again… We cannot remain observers of this trend,” said Erdogan.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the weekday curfew has been extended, announced limitations on intercity travel and public transportation, and banned all events in closed spaces until ‘after Ramadan.
He said the measures could be further tightened within two weeks.
“If, during this two-week period, we cannot achieve the expected improvement in the situation we are aiming for, the implementation of much stricter measures thereafter will become inevitable.”
The number of new cases has more than quintupled since early March, when Erdogan eased social restrictions.
On Monday, the Minister of Health warned of a third peak in the pandemic.
Turkey ranks seventh in the world for the number of COVID-19 cases.
