Turkey's coronavirus tests near 3M mark

ANKARA To date Turkey has done nearly 3 million coronavirus tests, the country’s health minister announced on Monday. A total of 1,293 more people won their battle against the novel pandemic over the past 24 hours, bringing the recoveries tally to 161,533, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing Health Ministry data. “The number of patients recovering today tops the number of new cases. But the difference is not enough for our struggle. We must bring down the number of cases through the measures we take,” Koca said. Turkey reported 24 new COVID-19 fatalities over the past day, bringing the total death toll to 4,974, the data showed. The country's healthcare workers did 41,413 tests for the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the total count to more than 2.98 million. According to test results, the total number of coronavirus cases nationwide to date reached 188,897, with new 1,212 infections reported. A total of 846 patients remain in intensive care units across the country. Koca has repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining social distance, wearing masks, and washing hands. Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world. The pandemic has killed over 469,000 people worldwide, with over 9 million confirmed cases and over 4.46 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.