Turkey’s coronavirus death toll rises by 28 to 4,199, with new 1,022 cases

Duvar English

Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 28 to total 4,199 and new confirmed cases rose by 1,022 to bring the country’s total to 151,615, Health Ministry data showed on May 19.

"There is a decrease in the number of new cases at an expected level. The number of our patients needing intensive care is decreasing. The number of our recovering patients is at a predictable level. Our life style is Controlled Social Life and [taking] measures all together. Its condition is: mask + a social distance of 1.5 meters," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on his Twitter account.

Yeni vaka sayısında beklenen düzeyde bir azalma var. Yoğun bakıma ihtiyaç duyan hastalarımızın sayısı düşüyor. İyileşen hasta sayımız öngörülen seviyede. Hayat tarzımız Kontrollü Sosyal Hayat, hep birlikte tedbir. Koşulu: Maske + 1,5 metre Sosyal Mesafe. https://t.co/RVlhe7786O pic.twitter.com/41C5V1VBKn

— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) May 19, 2020

Earlier on May 19, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said easing coronavirus containment measures does not mean that Turkey is ready to go back to pre-virus days. He said that the virus will be around for a while and citizens should learn to live with it during this period.

“We will not perceive normalization like our lives prior to March 20. We will arrange our lives not forgetting the fact that the virus will be around for a while,” Erdoğan said on May 19.

Turkey, with the ninth highest number of cases globally, has started taking steps to ease measures against the spread of the coronavirus. The number of daily cases has declined from a peak in April.

Erdoğan says Turks need to adapt their lives as coronavirus 'will be around for a while'