Daily number of virus deaths in Turkey reaches record, even after new measures

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Turkey reported 318 fatalities from the coronavirus on Sunday, an increase of 10% from the previous day and the highest figure since the start of the pandemic.

As the number of new cases continues to fluctuate among the highest in the world, an expert warned of the surge in the number of seriously ill young people.

Sunday’s death toll raised the total number of fatalities to 35,926, official data shows. Social distance measures announced on April 13 are beginning “to slow the rate of increase,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet. However, the country ranks third in the number of daily cases, after India and Brazil, where the population far exceeds Turkey’s 84 million residents.

“Alarm bells have been ringing for the past 15 days,” Ismail Cinel, head of the Turkish Intensive Care Association, told Demiroren News Agency on Sunday. “We now have more younger patients. The number of seriously ill has been increasing in the past six weeks. This is an extremely difficult period for health care workers. “

The wave is also a threat to the tourism industry. Earlier this month, Russia suspended most air travel with Turkey until June 1. Russia was the largest source of tourists to Turkey in 2020, with 2.13 million visitors despite the pandemic. The Turkish government aims to double the number of foreign visitors this year to 34 million.

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