Turkey Surpasses 80,000 COVID-19 Cases, Exceeding Iran's Count

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in Turkey has surpassed 80,000, exceeding that of Iran, which was known as the Middle East's hardest-hit country. The Turkish government is reportedly expecting the spread to soon reach its peak.

According to foreign media such as CNN, on the 18th (local time), the Turkish Ministry of Health announced that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country increased by 3,783 from the previous day to 82,329. This figure is higher than that of Iran (80,868), a neighboring country sharing a border and the epicenter of COVID-19 spread in the Middle East. The cumulative death toll was reported as 1,890.

However, the increase in COVID-19 cases has plateaued. The daily new confirmed cases in Turkey fell to the 3,000 range for the first time in 10 days since the 8th. Recently, Turkey had been seeing about 4,000 to 5,000 new confirmed cases daily, causing the cumulative number of cases to rise rapidly.

Fahrettin Koca, Turkey's Minister of Health, emphasized, "Next week, we will be able to see an inflection point on the graph representing new confirmed cases." He added, "Although the number of confirmed cases is increasing due to more tests being conducted, the ratio of positive cases to the number of tests is decreasing."

Turkey has currently suspended international flights and banned people under 20 and over 65 years old from going outside. Additionally, the government declared a curfew on the weekend of the 18th and 19th in 31 regions, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.