By Trend

Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Friday the latest figures related to the COVID-19 pandemic which has gripped Turkey since March. The total number of fatalities reached 3,258 with 84 new deaths while the total number of recoveries topped 53,808, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

Even though a sizable amount of coronavirus tests, over 41,400 were conducted, 2,188 cases were recorded in a single day, which marks a continuing decrease in daily cases. More than 4,900 patients recovered in a single day.

Turkey has also surpassed the 1 million mark in the number of COVID-19 tests conducted so far.

The country has recorded 3,258 deaths since the first diagnosed patient while the number of patients still in intensive care stands at 1,480.

Some 818 patients remain intubated.

Turkey has begun imposing a three-day curfew across 31 provinces starting 12:01 a.m. Friday in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Interior Ministry, bakeries, hospitals, pharmacies and workplaces producing health products and medical supplies will continue to operate.

Workers in sectors deemed as essential will be exempted from the curfew.

In order to dissuade citizens from giving in to the allure of the increasingly sunny weather and thereby undermining anti-COVID-19 measures, Turkey ordered a total curfew to be imposed across the country's largest cities for the first time on April 11-12.

Although Ankara has imposed a curfew on weekends since, this weekend’s period was extended to three days, as May 1 is already celebrated as an official holiday in the country.

Ankara previously declared a four-day curfew on April 23, combining the weekend curfew with the two-day Children’s Day and National Sovereignty Day holidays.

While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca signaled a potential ease on restrictions in late May with the outbreak in control, both said the curfews would continue for the time being and would be only lifted after the country’s Coronavirus Science Board deemed it no longer necessary.