THE Covid-19 related death toll in Turkey surged to 309 in the last 24 hours, the highest daily level in more than nine months, health ministry data showed on Tuesday, with new cases over that period at 94,730.
In late December, daily cases stood at about 20,000 but have since surged due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Daily infections peaked at 111,157 earlier this month.
The death toll reported on Tuesday was the highest since 356 on May 5. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged elderly citizens and those with chronic illnesses to exercise more caution after the data.
“The fact that infections due to Omicron are generally experienced lighter doesn’t mean everything else is going fine. Let’s first not forget that death figures are high,” Koca said on Twitter.
While the rate of positive tests has dropped from 24 percent to around 20 percent over the last week – although it’s still high – while the death toll is expected to remain higher for at least two more weeks.
According to official figures, more than 57.5 million people have received their first doses, while over 52.6 million have been fully vaccinated in Turkey, a country with a nearly 84 million population.
The number of people who have received their third COVID-19 booster shot has crossed 26.2 million.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca once again called on the people to comply with the measures, stating that it is wrong to think “the virus will be transmitted anyway.”
“We were all affected by the process, but most of us managed to protect ourselves. Try to carry this success to the end of this period,” Koca said on Twitter.