COVID-19 cases continue to decline in Turkey

Turkey reported over 37,000 more coronavirus cases on Thursday.

A total of 37,674 cases, including 2,715 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country, according to the latest Health Ministry data.

Turkey's overall COVID-19 tally is now over 4.78 million, while the nationwide death toll rose by 339 over the past day to reach 39,737.

As many as 43,253 more patients won the battle against the virus, taking the total number of recoveries past 4.25 million.

More than 46.99 million coronavirus tests have been done in Turkey to date, with 278,108 more done since Wednesday.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 3,581.

To fight the latest wave of the virus, Turkey is starting a complete lockdown Thursday evening and lasting until May 17.

The lockdown will cover the remainder of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as well as three days of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 3.15 million lives in 192 countries and regions.

Over 149.75 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries of nearly 87 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.