The number of new cases of new coronavirus infection identified in the last 24 hours fell below 1,000 in Turkey, marking a change in the country's fight against the coronavirus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.
"We will fight more freely with the virus by changing the conditions," Koca said on Twitter, adding that people should continue using masks and follow 1.5-metre social-distancing measures.
Health Ministry data showed 972 new patients had been identified in the last 24 hours.
The number of people who have died from the infectious respiratory disease rose by 23 in the same period to a total of 4,222, data also showed.
Turkey's daily number of new infections has fallen to around 1,000 from some 4,500 last month. Its total coronavirus cases topped 150,000 with some 75% already recovered.
Recoveries from COVID-19 hit 113,987 as 1,092 more patients were discharged from hospitals over the past day.
Healthcare professionals conducted more than 20,838 tests in the same period, raising the overall number to over 1.69 million.
Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Russia, Brazil, and several European countries are currently the hardest-hit in the world.
The pandemic has killed nearly 324,200 worldwide, with more than 4.93 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 1.7 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US.
