Turkey Suddenly Experience Drastic Increase In Cases Of New COVID-19 Variants

JAKARTA - Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Wednesday, February 3 said that his country had experienced a drastic increase in cases of the new variant of COVID-19.

"It looks like it will continue to be vicious. We see that the mutant virus is very easily transmitted, and the symptoms appear earlier", he told reporters.

However, the number of cases of the new variant was not stated. Last week, Minister Koca said that 128 Turks in 17 cities were infected with a new variant of the coronavirus.

Turkey on Wednesday, February 3 recorded 8,102 new cases of COVID-19, including 632 asymptomatic patients (OTG), bringing the total to 2,501,079 cases, according to Ministry of Health data.

Turkey's COVID-19 deaths totaled 26,354, including 117 new deaths. Meanwhile, the total number of cases recovered rose to 2,387,384 after 8,314 other patients were declared free from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 148,192 COVID-19 tests were carried out in the past day, with the total number reaching 30,061,437.

Turkey began rolling out its mass COVID-19 vaccination against frontline medical workers on January 14 after authorities approved the emergency use of China's CoronaVac vaccine. To date, more than 2,400,000 people have received their vaccines.

Turkey reported its first coronavirus case on March 11, 2020. Aerial view of Kilyos' funeral amidst the spread of the coronavirus in Istanbul, Turkey, December 10, 2020. The image was taken using a drone.