Turkey imposes weekend virus curfew in 24 provinces

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey has imposed a two-day curfew in 24 provinces beginning on May 8 at midnight in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed nearly 3,700 lives in the country.

The curfew is going to be effective in the capital Ankara as well as Adana, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Istanbul, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Mardin, Ordu, Sakarya,
Samsun, Sanlıurfa, Tekirdağ, Trabzon, Van and Zonguldak.

The first curfew was declared on April 11-12 and it was followed by other ones in the past weeks.

However, people over 65-year-old will be allowed to leave their homes, remaining within walking distance and wearing masks, on May 10 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time (0800-1200GMT).

Children under 14 years old will be allowed out on May 13 during the same hours, while 15-20 year-olds will be able to leave their houses on May 15, also within walking distance and wearing masks.

Turkey introduced stay-home orders for those over the age of 65 on March 21, while those under 20 years old have been restricted since April 3 to stem the spread of the coronavirus.