ANKARA (Reuters) – The daily number of new coronavirus cases in Turkey rose on Wednesday to the highest level this year, Health Ministry data showed, ten days after President Tayyip Erdogan announced an easing of measures to curb the pandemic.
The number of new cases stood at 14,556, the highest level since the end of last year and nearly double from a month ago.
Erdogan announced a partial opening of schools, as well as cafes and restaurants last week. Ankara also eased weekend lockdowns, after the number of new cases fell below 10,000 daily.
Wednesday’s data showed 67 people died due to COVID-19 in the last 24-hour period, raising the death toll to 29,227.
Turkey, with a population of 83 million, has administered 10.41 million vaccine doses in a campaign that began in mid-January. More than 7.7 million people have received a first shot and nearly 2.6 million a second dose of the vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans)
