Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that Turkey would impose a fresh lockdown next weekend as part of measures to halt the spread of COVID-19, having locked down 31 provinces last weekend.
Erdoğan was speaking after a cabinet meeting. The 48-hour curfew lifted overnight covered all the country' major cities including its commercial hub Istanbul, which is home to 16 million residents.
"As part of the fight against the epidemic, we decided to continue the curfew on weekends as needed in the coming period," the president said in a statement.
"Turkey will complete [construction of] a new hospital for COVID-19 patients in Istanbul's Başakşehir by May 15," he added.
He also announced the establishment of two new hospitals with total of 350 beds in Istanbul for coronavirus patients.
"Turkey continues its fight against coronavirus pandemic with determination," he said.
Erdogan stressed that Turkey makes significant progress in bringing coronavirus outbreak under control, adding that the country is facing no difficulties in supplying its people with personal health and cleaning materials.
"With measures taken, Turkey tops the countries which brought the outbreak under control in the fastest way," he said.
The Turkish president also ruled out any borrowing arrangement with IMF during the pandemic.
On Monday, the death toll in the country from the coronavirus rose to 1,296. The country has nearly 61,049 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Since appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.
Data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University shows worldwide infections have surpassed 1.87 million, with the death toll above 116,000, while more than 441,800 have recovered.
