Curfew

Citizens who will choose to share their Christmas day or New Year's lunch with family or friends should send an SMS with the number 6 to leave their home, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Tuesday, but warned against widening the social bubble during the festive season.

The number of coronavirus cases in Istanbul dropped 40% last week, the city's governor said on Dec. 21. 

Ali Yerlikaya said on Twitter that there is a continuous drop in the positive COVID-19 cases in Istanbul and the districts which saw the fastest drops were Arnavutköy, Beyoğlu and Avcılar.

Turkey ended a countrywide weekend curfew early on Dec. 21 as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The curfew began on Friday at 9 p.m. and ended on Monday at 5 a.m. local time.

In late November, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including a curfew on weeknights and full weekend curfews.

Turkey has suspended flights from the U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands and South Africa due to concerns over a new fast-moving coronavirus strain.

"It has been reported that the rate of transmission has increased in the U.K. with the mutation of the coronavirus," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca wrote on Twitter on late Dec. 20.

Italy approved new restrictions on Thursday to avoid a new surge in coronavirus infections during the Christmas and New Year holidays. 

Under current curbs, which will remain in place, the country is divided into three zones with restrictions calibrated according to infection rates.

A hard lockdown is on the table for regions that have been unable to control transmission of the novel coronavirus and are struggling with hospital admissions, government spokesman Stelios Petsas indicated on Wednesday.

Germany entered a complete lockdown at midnight, and France is replacing the previous lockdown with curfew.
The measures will last in Germany until January 10, and during that period, only essential stores such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as banks, will work.

A sales attendant at a cosmetics store in downtown Athens serves a customer waiting outside on the first day of holiday business for thousands of retail stores, which resumed trade on Monday via a system allowing customers to physically collect items they have bought online or by phone at store entrances. Bookstores and hair salons also reopened, as will nail salons on Tuesday.

The government on Monday announced lockdown rules for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well as for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Gatherings at homes will be limited to a maximum of nine people from two families, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said.

He added that the 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew will also apply.

More than 39,000 people have violated the weeknight curfews and full weekend lockdown in Turkey between Dec. 7 and Dec. 14, the country's Interior Ministry has said.

The government introduced the weeknight curfews from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and full weekend lockdowns starting from Friday 9 p.m. until Monday 5 a.m. to check the spread of COVID-19.