Viruses

With nine additional deaths in the past 24 hours, the Turkish death toll from the novel coronavirus in Germany surged to 109, local authorities said on April 24. 

The nine additional deaths were in Berlin, Hamburg, Nurnberg and Munich.

Germany has so far registered over 154,000 coronavirus cases and the death toll stands at 5,653.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on April 24 reported that no new cases of the coronavirus had been observed over the past week.

Health Minister Ali Pilli said 2,868 tests had been conducted during the past a week, with none testing positive.

Pilli said 546 people had been tested on Friday alone and that the last positive case was confirmed on April 17.

The 27th Istanbul Jazz Festival was postponed because of the novel coronavirus, organizers announced on April 24. 

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) said the festival scheduled for June 27 - July 14 will take place at a later date.

New dates will be announced on the foundation's website.

Turkey will "very soon start mass production" of indigenous respirators needed in the fight against the novel coronavirus, Ankara's communications director said on April 25. 

3.563 people had been tested in those 24 hours, out of which 207 people had tested positive for coronavirus.
A total of 3.164 COVID-19 patients were being treated in hospital, including 95 who are on respirators, while 1.094 patients have recovered.
7.483 coronavirus cases had been confirmed in Serbia to date and 54.887 people have been tested for the coronavirus so far.

Another 15 persons infected with the novel coronavirus have died, with the death toll in Romania reaching thus 567, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) informed on Friday. The persons were ten men and five women aged between 36 and 97 years old. AGERPRES (RO - author: Roberto Stan, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)

Greek health authorities announced on Friday 27 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total nationwide to 2,490.

Another five infected people died in the past 24 hours, Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiodras said in his daily press briefing, pushing the death toll 130.

The president of Turkey and chancellor of Germany discussed the current state of the fight against the novel coronavirus on April 24 in a phone call.

Bilateral issues and steps to be taken in the aftermath of the pandemic were also on the agenda during the call between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A prosecutor in the port town of Piraeus opened an investigation on Friday into an anonymous report that a health clinic in the area is concealing from authorities a number of coronavirus infections.

The inquiry will first look into the veracity of the report and, if confirmed, find those responsible for the concealment. 

Thirty-seven of the 226 patients and employees at a private clinic in Peristeri, western Athens, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Greek health authorities said on Friday.
Of these, 17 are clinic employees and are now in quarantine at home.