Turkey: Coronavirus Recoveries Top 220,500

Turkey on Thursday confirmed 1,040 more recoveries from the novel coronavirus, raising the tally to 220,546, according to the country's health minister.

Citing Health Ministry data, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that a total of 1,153 people contracted COVID-19 over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 237,265.

"Contrary to false allegations, not a single city is overflowing with patients or a hospital full to capacity due to COVID-19 in Turkey. Please give credence only to official statements by the Ministry of Health," Koca said on Twitter.

"KONYA Province: Ward bed occupancy rate is 48%, ICU occupancy is 76% and mechanical ventilator use is 42%. Allegations of 100% occupancy/use are 100% ill-intentioned. Pay no attention to those who underrate the disease and those who portray hospitals as desperate," he added.

The country's death toll from the disease rose to 5,798, with 14 new fatalities over the past 24 hours.

Healthcare professionals conducted more than 54,494 tests for COVID-19 over the past day, raising the tally to over 5.08 million.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed nearly 709,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

Over 18.8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 11.3 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University. -