Masks mandatory in five more provinces

Turkey has made it mandatory for people to wear face masks in public in five more provinces as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the country's health minister said early on June 16. 

Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that wearing masks is mandatory in Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Kayseri, Rize and Şanlıurfa provinces. The mask rule is applied in 42 provinces.

The pandemic has claimed more than 436,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since originating in Wuhan, China last December. The U.S., Brazil and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 8 million cases have been reported worldwide, while more than 3.83 million people have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

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