Istanbul
Turkey recorded 26,597 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, close to last week’s three-month high, and the number of fatalities hovered close to a two-month peak.
Daily cases have surged from a low of just over 4,000 in early July to over 20,000 for the last two weeks.
That resurgence, coupled with severe wildfires in Turkey’s southwestern coastal provinces, has hit hopes for a strong tourism revival this summer after heavy losses caused by pandemic restrictions last year.
Last week the new daily cases hit 26,822, the highest level since the first week of May. The number of Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday was 124.
Two-thirds of Turkish adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, while slightly less than half have received two or more doses.
Turkey has given nearly 6 million third doses to health workers and people over 50 years old.
South Korea’s daily increase in coronavirus infections has exceeded 2,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic, continuing an alarming spread despite the enforcement of strict virus restrictions in large population centers.
Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol on Wednesday pleaded for people to stay home during the holiday break around Liberation Day on Friday. He said that “in our fight against Covid-19, we are entering a new phase, a new crisis.”
Officials said more than 1,400 of the 2,223 new cases are in the Seoul metropolitan region. Kwon says transmissions are also spreading at faster speeds in other parts of the country.
South Korea has so far administered first doses of coronavirus vaccine to 42% of a population of more than 51 million.—Agencies
