Turkey’s COVID-19 figures show UK variant accounts for 75% of all cases in country, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a statement late Wednesday.
According to the figures the minister shared on Twitter, Turkey has so far registered 180,448 UK variant cases in 81 provinces and 169 of South African strain in 11 provinces.
“As a result of negotiations with different producers, Turkey soon will be able to purchase more COVID-19 vaccines,” he said.
Earlier on the same day, Turkey reported almost 40,000 new coronavirus cases.
A total of 39,302 cases, including 1,401 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country in the last 24 hours.
Turkey’s overall case tally is now over 3.3 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 31,537 with 152 more fatalities over the past day.
As many as 19,193 more patients recovered from the virus, bringing the number of recoveries to over 3 million.
More than 38.5 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 240,012 done since Tuesday.
The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 2,082.
Since Turkey began a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, it has administered over 16.03 million coronavirus vaccine jabs, according to official figures.
Over 9.14 million people to date have received their first doses, while second doses have been given to more than 6.89 million.
In light of the rise in cases and fatalities, Turkey announced the return of weekend curfews in high-risk areas, as well as other restrictions, in addition to special measures for the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.8 million lives in 192 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
Over 128.49 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries now numbering over 72.86 million.
