All sports events in Turkey to be played without spectators until end of April: Erdoğan aide

Turkish schools will be closed for one week and universities for three weeks from March 16, and all sports events will be played without spectators until the end of April in response to the coronavirus outbreak, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said.

The moves came after Turkey confirmed its first coronavirus infection on Wednesday, becoming the last major economy to report an outbreak after taking what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as vigilant measures.

At a news conference following a meeting of ministers at the presidential palace, Kalın also said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's foreign visits and programmes will be postponed for some time due to the spread of the virus.

Kalın said primary, middle and secondary schools would initially be closed for one week and after that students will receive remote online teaching from March 23.

Until Wednesday's announcement, Turkey had officially managed to avoid an outbreak, though all its neighbours except war-ravaged Syria had reported cases. Iran has an especially high number of cases and deaths.

Kalın also noted that the condition of Turkey's only coronavirus patient was currently stable.

Turkey on early Wednesday confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, with the health minister urging citizens to avoid international travel unless absolutely necessary.

The coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China last December and has spread to at least 114 countries.

The global death toll is now over 4,600, with more than 124,500 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the outbreak "a pandemic."