Turkey records nearly 45,000 COVID-19 cases as Omicron spreads

The Turkish Health Ministry on Jan. 3 confirmed 44,869 new COVID-19 infections and 160 virus-related deaths as the Omicron variant continues to spread in the country.

Tuesday January 04 2022 10:07 am

Duvar English

Turkey recorded 44,869 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily figure since late April, the Health Ministry data showed on Jan. 3.

It also recorded 160 deaths due to COVID-19 in the same period.

Cases in Turkey have more than doubled in just over a week as the Omicron variant became dominant in the country.

Last week, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that daily virus cases throughout Turkey might reach 60,000-70,000 soon amid a growing prevalence of the Omicron variant.

“Our only consolation is that the increase [in cases] do not reflect on the hospitalizations, intensive care and deaths in the same rate. But this does not mean that we should behave in an imprudent way,” Koca said on Dec. 31.

Last week, Turkey started to administer its locally-made Covid-19 vaccine, Tukovac.