Minister urges vigilance, as virus cases stay high

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has urged the public to get vaccinated and strictly observe anti-virus measures, such as social distancing and wearing face masks as the number of daily COVID-19 cases continue to hover around 30,000.

"We have not yet reached herd immunity. We must adhere to rules and get vaccinated. Look around when you go out. How many people have face masks on? Are people following the social distancing rule," Koca once again took to Twitter on Oct. 5 to repeat his warning.

Data from the Health Ministry showed that the country logged 29,802 COVID-19 cases on Oct. 5, marking the highest number of daily infections since April 30.

The death toll has also been on the rise since mid-July.

As the daily number of infections declined from record levels of 60,000 in April to around 5,000, Turkey lifted most of the pandemic-related restrictions and measures, including weekday curfews and lockdowns on weekends. On Sept. 6, 18 million students and more than 1 million teachers returned to schools for in-class education after an 18-month break.

Turkey will continue in-class learning, including in universities, with COVID-19 measures observed, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 5 at a ceremony marking the start of new academic year at universities.

Regarding education in preschools, primary, secondary and high schools, Erdoğan said some classes may be quarantined depending on the case numbers, however, he ruled out a closure of a school or schools across districts and cities.