Turkey reports 1,815 additional coronavirus cases, 23 new deaths

The Turkish health ministry on March 29 reported 1,815 new coronavirus cases, marking the country's largest daily increase in infections, and 23 additional deaths.

That raised the total number of known infections in the country to 9,217, while the death toll has reached 131, it said.

According to the ministry's update, 9,982 tests had been conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests carried out in Turkey to 65,446.

A total of 105 patients have recovered since the beginning of the outbreak, according to the announced data, with 568 patients still being treated at intensive care units.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on March 27 urged Turks to stay at home except for shopping or basic needs to help contain the fast-growing outbreak.
Erdoğan announced further measures to contain the spread of the virus, halting international flights, inter-city trains and making other domestic travel subject to a governor's approval.

Turkish Airlines said from March 29 it would halt all international flights until April 17 and limit domestic flights to those to and from 14 big cities. Pegasus Airlines said it stopped all domestic flights until April 30, and Istanbul's smaller Sabiha Gökçen airport closed.

In a notice detailing travel restrictions, the Interior Ministry said all citizens must remain in the cities they reside in and could only leave with a doctor's note, in the event of the death of a family member or if they have no accommodation.

It said that from March 29, airline passengers would need "travel permission documents" and that special councils were being formed to issue the paperwork.

Speaking to reporters, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said the use of public transportation had...