‘Black record’ in Turkey: Coronavirus deaths at nine-month high

The number of COVID-19-related deaths in Turkey has risen to 309 in the last 24 hours, the highest daily level in more than nine months, according to health ministry figures released on Tuesday, with new cases during during this period amount to 94,730.

At the end of December, the daily cases were about 20,000, but since then they have increased due to the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Daytime infections peaked at 111,157 earlier this month.

The death toll reported on Tuesday was the highest since 356 on May 5th. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged senior citizens and those suffering from chronic diseases to be more careful after the data.

“The fact that Omicron’s infections are generally milder does not mean that everything else is going well. Let us not forget first that the death rates are high,” Koca said on Twitter.