Photographer: Chris McGrath / Getty Images
Photographer: Chris McGrath / Getty Images
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Turkey reported 318 deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday, a 10% increase from the previous day and the highest figure since the start of the pandemic.
As the number of new cases continues to be among the highest in the world, an expert warned about the increase in the number of critically ill younger people.
Sunday’s death toll increased the total deaths to 35,926, according to official data. Social distancing measures announced on April 13 have “started to slow down the increase”, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet. However, the country is third in the number of daily cases, behind India and Brazil, whose population is much larger than the 84 million inhabitants of Turkey.
“Alarm bells have been ringing for the past 15 days,” Ismail Cinel, head of the Turkish Intensive Care Association, told the Demiroren news agency on Sunday. ‘We now have more younger patients. The number of seriously ill has been increasing over the past six weeks. This is an extremely difficult period for healthcare professionals. ”
The boom also threatens the tourism industry. Earlier this month, Russia suspended most air travel with Turkey until June 1. Russia was the largest tourist source 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.