Turkey not to consider lockdown despite increasing COVID-19 cases: Minister

ANKARA - Turkey does not consider imposing stay-home orders despite the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Wednesday.

"Fluctuations (of the number of new cases) can occur as seen in many countries of the world. These are fully proportional to the extent of compliance with our measures," he said at a press conference.

Turkey's confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 1,429 to 182,727 in the past 24 hours, and 19 more died, taking the death toll to 4,861, the minister said.

Meanwhile, 1,261 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 154,640, he noted.

The minister also said 52,901 tests were conducted over the past day, taking the overall number of tests to 2,773,904.

Turkey is currently treating 745 patients in intensive care units, with 306 intubated patients, he added.

Turkey reported the first COVID-19 case on March 11. The country has seen a slight increase in daily COVID-19 cases since it lifted restrictions on June 1.

Turkey and China have supported each other in the fight against COVID-19. Chinese doctors and medical experts held a video conference with Turkish counterparts to share China's experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus.