Turkey announces complete lockdown through end of Ramadan

shahennews

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday a complete lockdown in the country from April 29 to May 17 to combat a third wave of the Coronavirus outbreak.

The country of 84 million people also witnessed a high number of daily deaths due to the virus, reaching 350.

Turkey counted 37,312 new infections Monday, the highest number in Europe. However, it is still less than the 60,000 recorded earlier this month, at the peak of the Turkish crisis.

“We must work to reduce the number of injuries quickly to less than 5,000 a day,” Erdogan said in a televised speech.

He added that a “total closure” would be imposed in Turkey, obliging people to stay in their homes, in addition to stopping all non-essential work.

Movement between regions will be banned and shops will be closed on Sundays for the first time.

These measures seem to be aimed at avoiding another spike in infections during Eid al-Fitr, with the end of Ramadan in mid-May.

These new restrictions come as Turkey largely lags in implementing its planned vaccination campaign after a rapid start in mid-January.

Turkey gave two doses to eight million people, and is pressuring China to receive the 100 million Sinopharm doses it contracted to buy.

Turkey also received its first shipments of Pfizer vaccines, and reached an agreement with Russia to produce the Sputnik vaccine locally.

The official total death toll in Turkey from the virus is 37,312.

Roya