Turkey reports over 20,000 new COVID-19 cases, 246 deaths

Turkey reported 20,316 more coronavirus infections, including 3,546 symptomatic patients, over the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data released Sunday.

The total number of cases reached over 2 million with the latest additions.

As many as 21,218 people also recovered over the past day, bringing the tally to 1.8 million, while the death toll climbed to 18,097 with 246 additions.

Nearly 159,000 COVID-19 tests were carried out across the country, pushing the total to over 22.44 million.

The number of patients in critical condition, meanwhile, stands at 5,347.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the daily number of patients and the number of patients in critical condition continue to drop.

"The implemented measures and restrictions are delivering results. We believe we will get more evident results," he tweeted.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 1.69 million lives in 191 countries and regions since last December.

Over 76 million cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 43.1 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of cases.

While new restrictions are being imposed ahead of the holiday season, especially across Europe, countries are approving and procuring vaccines to pave the way toward the end of the pandemic.