Turkey on Sunday opened an emergency hospital in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul as part of the country's continued fight against the pandemic.
The new Yeşilköy Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital in Istanbul is named after a Turkish doctor and academic who was claimed by the virus on May 3.
Attending the opening ceremony were Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vice President Fuat Oktay, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, and other top officials.
Speaking at the opening, Erdoğan stressed the importance of emergency hospitals.
"Thank Allah, we have prevented the spread of the pandemic even without a need for additional capacity we created here [in the new hospital]," he said.
The emergency hospitals put into service in the country in only two months during the COVID-19 constitute "an exemplary model", he stressed.
The country is making "very serious" progress in the health tourism, Erdoğan added.
Turkey on Friday opened an emergency hospital in Istanbul, Dr. Feriha Öz Emergency Hospital -- named after a world-renowned Turkish pathologist who was claimed by the virus this April.
Turkey recorded 839 cases over the previous 24 hours, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted, taking the total to 163,942 since the first infection was announced on March 11. There were 25 coronavirus-related deaths over the same period, bringing the toll to 4,540.
The pandemic has claimed nearly 370,000 lives in 188 countries and regions, with more than 6 million cases reported worldwide, including over 2.58 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
