The weekly figures are based on the number of cases per 100,000 people in each province. The provinces of Amasya, Kırşehir, Samsun, the capital Ankara and Isparta saw the sharpest drop in cases. In big cities, weekly cases also significantly decreased. In Istanbul, the country’s most populated city, there were only around 340 cases per 100,000, compared to 522 between Feb. 26 and March 4. Ankara had 541 cases, compared to 916 earlier, while cases in the third-largest province Izmir declined to around 324 cases from 456 in the previous week.
The data shows cases across all provinces had fallen below 1,000, a rare instance. The central province of Eskişehir had the highest number, with 709 per 100,000, while the southeastern province of Şırnak had the lowest number, at around 14.
Turkey is going through a new phase in its battle against COVID-19 after the fast-spreading omicron variant drove the country to break all-time records in the pandemic, which made its foray into the country in March 2020. On Sunday, the number of daily cases stood at only 13,081 as daily fatalities dropped to 85, falling below 100 for the first time in months.
Although the omicron variant spreads faster, it is also less severe and most of the time, does not require hospitalization for younger people and those without chronic illnesses, according to experts. The decline in cases is also linked to the growing vaccination program. The country has administered more than 146 million doses since January 2021.
Encouraged by the positive developments, the government recently scrapped the outdoor protective mask rule and lifted the practice of showing individual codes to enter certain venues.
