Turkey daily COVID cases top 14,000

Turkey's daily COVID-19 cases surged past 14,000 on Sunday, marking the highest toll since May.

"If we don't take measures and if we don't get vaccinated, it might take a very long time to stop the pandemic," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

According to official data, Turkey recorded 14,230 daily cases over the past 24-hours, a sharp increase from around 4,000 daily in the early days of July.

The country of 83 million reported more than 60,000 cases a day in April, prompting the government to force a strict lockdown.

But the restrictions have been removed from July 1, feeding fears the new surge will continue during the summer season.

Turkey has so far reported more than 5.5 million cases of the virus and over 50,000 deaths since the pandemic began.

More than 39.4 million people have received their first doses of vaccine and over 22.8 million their second doses. The number of people who received their third jabs has reached 3.8 million, according to the official data.

© 2021 AFP