Weeks After Lifting Curfew, Turkey Hobbled By Biggest COVID Spike

Turkey recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases within the past two months late last week, a worrying development since restrictions were lifted at the start of July, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

The Health Ministry reported 60 deaths within 24 hours on Friday as well as 11,094 new infections - the highest number since mid-May. The country with a population of 82 million lifted all curfews at the start of July, and case numbers have been on the rise ever since.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has appealed to people to get vaccinated. About 46 percent of the population has received at least one jab, while slightly more than a quarter are fully vaccinated.

Turkey uses the Chinese-made Sinovac, whose efficacy is under fire, and the more effective BioNTech/Pfizer jabs. The number of cases blamed on the Delta variant has been climbing in Turkey, though no figures have yet been given on what percentage it makes up.

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