Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Friday said that the country’s COVID-19 cases in risk groups are increasing.
Taking to Twitter, the minister said, “The number of severe patients rose to 656. The data showed that there is an increase in the number of people who are in the risk groups due to their age or disease and who were infected with COVID-19”.
Turkey confirmed 1,226 new COVID-19 cases on the day, raising the total diagnosed cases to 246,861, according to the Koca.
Meanwhile, 22 people have lost their lives in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,934.
A total of 923 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 228,980 in Turkey since the outbreak, Koca added.
Late July, Turkey resumed international flights to four countries, including India that started from August 1.
Turkey had partially resumed international flights on July 11, after remaining suspended for nearly two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Late June, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the country had lost some ground in its battle with the coronavirus but a focus on hygiene, masks and social distancing will protect people and help the economy rebound in the second half of the year.
The country resumed domestic flights as part of measures towards normalization amid the COVID-19 pandemic last month.
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.
In a video conference, Chinese doctors and medical experts held a conversation with Turkish counterparts to share China’s experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus.