Turkey reports over 12,200 new COVID-19 infections

More than 14,100 patients recover while 212 others die, according to Health Ministry

ANKARA Turkey on Friday reported 12,203 more infections and 212 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours. According to the Health Ministry data, the new cases include 1,908 symptomatic patients. The tally of infections exceeded 2.22 million, while the death toll climbed to 21,093. As many as 14,110 more people recovered over the past day, taking the total to over 2.11 million. A total of 158,103 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country over the past day, pushing the overall count to over 24.66 million. The number of patients in critical condition dropped to 3,891, the latest figures showed. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet: "The number of active cases and the number of serious patients continues to decrease. Our losses have started to fall." "I believe the destructive effect of the pandemic will decrease," he added. Turkey started a nationwide curfew spanning the traditional New Year's holiday as of Thursday night until early Jan. 4 as part of measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. The curfew began on Thursday at 9 p.m. (1800GMT) and will end at 5 a.m. local time (0200GMT) on Monday. The country has been implementing curfew on weeknights and full weekend curfews since Dec. 5 to stem the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 1.82 million lives in 191 countries and regions since it originated in China last December. Over 83.59 million cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 47.16 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University. The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of cases.