Infection cases keep dropping in Turkey

ANKARA

The number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey dropped for a fifth consecutive day, remaining below the 1,000 mark, data from the Health Ministry have shown.

New infections on record came under the 1,000 threshold on July 14 for the first time in more than a month and the daily cases have been on decline since then.

“Five provinces with the highest number of cases in the last three days were Istanbul, Ankara, the southeastern province of Gaziantep, the Central Anatolian Konya province and the southeastern province of Diyarbakir,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter on July 18.

Koca also shared a video showing celebrations by the fans of the football club Erzurumspor to warn the public once again the necessity of following basic anti-virus rules.

“The game between Erzurumspor and coronavirus has just kicked off. I call on the fans to leave this crowded scene. Let’s keep the virus cases under control in the city,” he said in the tweet.

The video the minister shared showed the fans filling the streets of the eastern province Erzurum, celebrating the local team’s promotion to the top tier Süper Lig.

Turkey saw a spike in infections after the country in June started to roll back a number of measures initially imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The increase alarmed health experts, prompting them to issue stark warnings over potential dangers from ignoring rules regarding wearing face masks, hygiene and social distancing.