Number of COVID-19 tests in Turkey surpasses 2.5 million

Turkey's daily COVID-19 death toll stands at 17 while new infections remained below 1,000 in the past 24 hours, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Thursday.

The number of COVID-19 tests in the country surpassed 2.5 million, as the number of confirmed cases reached 174,023 with 147,860 recoveries.

With fewer new cases came more recoveries. According to the Health Ministry's latest coronavirus numbers, 1,021 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, as 987 new cases were confirmed.

The figures showed that those who had recovered from the virus made up 85% of the country's total COVID-19 cases.

"Virus takes power from false optimism. Do not ignore measures by thinking 'virus has slowed down'," Koca said.

The country's death toll from the virus rose to 4,763, as it reported 17 new fatalities.

Healthcare professionals performed 49,190 tests for the disease in the past 24 hours.

Koca, along with other experts, has repeatedly warned citizens in the past that the easing of measures did not mean the threat of the virus was over but rather meant the beginning of a new lifestyle to which citizens would have to adapt.