Turkey's COVID-19 patient count rises by over 1,700

Turkey registered 1,723 new coronavirus patients over the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data released on Saturday.

The country's overall tally now stands at 345,678, the ministry reported.

Some 1,401 more patients recovered over the past day, raising the count to 302,499, while the death toll increased by 71 to reach 9,224.

Over 112,000 more COVID-19 tests were carried out across the country, taking the total to over 12.3 million.

The figures showed that the number of patients in critical condition currently stands at 1,428, with 5.9% this week suffering from pneumonia.

In a tweet, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the number of patients in critical condition can only be decreased by curbing the spread of the virus.

He urged citizens to follow coronavirus safety measures enforced across the country.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.1 million lives in 189 countries and regions since last December.

The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 39.44 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 27.13 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.