Over 63,000 New COVID-19 Cases in Turkey... Highest Record to Date

Confirmed Cases Surge Sixfold After 'Normalization Measures'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Turkey's daily new COVID-19 cases have once again reached an all-time high. It is analyzed that the government's 'normalization measures' have had a negative impact on the increase in new cases.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Health on the 17th (local time), the number of new COVID-19 cases was recorded at 63,082. This surpassed the previous record of 62,797 cases (on the 15th), setting a new all-time high. The cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths were recorded at 4,150,039 and 35,320, respectively.

The cause of the sharp increase in cases is attributed to the normalization measures implemented since last month. On the 1st of last month, the Turkish government switched school education back to in-person classes and reopened restaurants and cafes. After the normalization measures, the number of new cases surged approximately sixfold.

Accordingly, the Turkish government imposed partial lockdown measures starting from the 13th, switching school classes online for two weeks and banning outings from 7 p.m. on weekdays until 5 a.m. the next day.