Turkey's health minister says society lacking in determination in fight against COVID-19

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said that society is failing in fully abiding by the measures taken to contain the spread of the novel coroavirus. "We are not determined enough in decreasing the case numbers and not careful enough in the measures," Koca wrote on Twitter, as Turkey registered 18 new deaths and 1,374 new infections from the virus.

Duvar English

Turkey’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 5,115, as it reported 18 new fatalities, Health Ministry data showed on June 29. According to test results, the total number of COVID-19 cases nationwide reached 198,613 with 1,374 new infections.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter that society was not putting enough effort to control the spread of the virus.

"We are not determined enough in decreasing the case numbers and not careful enough in the measures," Koca wrote.

Turkey has recently seen an upward trend in the daily number of virus infections after the government authorized cafes, restaurants, gyms, parks, beaches and museums to reopen, lifted inter-city travel restrictions and eased stay-at-home orders for the elderly and young on June 1.

The daily number of cases climbed to around 1,300-1,500 in the past two weeks after hovering around 800-900 previously.

After this spike in infection figures, authorities made the wearing of masks compulsory in several more provinces, including Istanbul.

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