Turkey reports record 68,413 daily COVID-19 cases as Omicron spreads

Turkey on Thursday reported 68,413 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily figure since the outbreak, raising its total tally to 9,787,274, according to its health ministry, reported Xinhua.

The number of daily cases in the country has about doubled since early January as the Omicron variant rapidly increases.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 156 to 83,231, while 25,502 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.

A total of 418,823 tests were conducted over the past day, the ministry said.

Turkey started mass COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 14, 2021 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

More than 57.03 million people have received their first doses of the vaccine, while over 51.79 million had their second doses.

Turkey has so far administered over 134.86 million doses, including third booster jabs.