ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey on Friday reported 48 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours – the lowest number of daily fatalities in more than a month. The country’s total death toll now stands at 3,689.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also announced 1,848 more confirmed cases, bringing the total number of infections to 135,569.
At least 86,396 COVID-19 patients have recovered, according to figures the minister posted on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced new guidelines for taxis, according to which both drivers and passengers will be required to wear masks and the maximum number of passengers will be limited to three.
The guidelines came as Turkey prepares to ease some restrictions aimed at curbing the virus spread, and reopen malls, beauty salons, hairdressers and barber shops on Monday.
Turkey has the ninth-highest number of number confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, but experts believe the tally around the world is higher than reported.
___
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
