ISTANBUL (AP) – Turkey’s weekly regional figures for COVID-19 continue to rise and deaths rise as the country maintains more relaxed restrictions for the time being.
The country’s official pandemic toll rose to 30,061 on Sunday, when the government reported 102 new deaths. Daily deaths had dropped to an average of 65 in the past two weeks.
Ministry of Health statistics released late Saturday showed the infection rate of more than 251 cases per 100,000 in Istanbul, the country’s largest city – up 41% from last week. That means about 40,000 new infections in Istanbul alone, which has quadrupled from the number first released six weeks ago.
The government has divided its 81 provinces into four risk categories and said it will assess “controlled normalization” efforts at the local level every two weeks. The latest figures show many cities are “very high risk” or “high risk”.
The Turkish president announced this week that relaxed restrictions, such as the restaurant and the tightening of restrictions, will continue “for some time to come” despite growing infections, but said tougher measures could be brought back.
According to measures announced in early March, weekend signaling options remained in place in “very high risk” cities, and Sunday blockades continued in “high risk” cities. Restaurants are open for indoor and outdoor dining in all categories, except those with “very high risk”, and night restrictions are applied throughout the country.
The national average of seven days of infections rose to over 19,000, reaching the daily rates last seen in December. The number of patients in critical care and deaths is also increasing.
In the face of an economic downturn, the government has come under pressure from business owners to resume operations during the pandemic.
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