Turkey's Coronavirus Cases Highest in Middle East

TEHRAN (defapress) – Turkey's health minister said the country's confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 82,329, overtaking neighboring Iran for the first time to register the highest total in the Middle East.

News ID: 80840

Date: 19 April 2020 - 22:19

The new figure in Turkey reflects an increase of 3,783 over the previous 24 hours.

Despite this standing, Turkey’s official death toll, at 1,890, with an increase of 121 over the previous 24-hour period, lags well behind that of Iran, at 5,118.

Fakhruddin Koca said that testing in the 24 hours had reached 40,520. Turkey extended restrictions on movement among 31 cities for another two weeks, while Iran on Saturday allowed “low-risk” businesses and places of employment to reopen in Tehran after having done so outside the capital a week earlier.

Speaking at a daily press conference on Sunday, Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoosh Jahanpoor said the number of patients who had recovered from COVID-19 has reached 57,023.

The number of those tested positive for the coronavirus across the country has risen to 82,211 following the detection of 1,343 new cases over the past 24 hours, he noted.

According to the spokesman, 87 coronavirus patients have died across the country since Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 5,118.

Among the coronavirus patients undergoing treatment in the hospital at present, 3,456 ones have critical health conditions because of more severe infection, he added.

More than 2,344,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 globally, and the death toll has exceeded 161,000.

Message end/