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Turkey's death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic has increased to 1,769 as 126 people died in a day, the Health Ministry announced on its website.

The total number of cases has climbed to 82,329 with 3,783 cases in the last 24 hours. With the last update, Turkey has become the country with the most cases in the Middle East and the eighth most cases in the world, replacing Iran, which was one of the epicenters of the pandemic in late February and early March.

Iran has so far confirmed of 80,868 cases and 5,031 deaths of coronavirus. Then next country with the most number of cases in the region is Israel with 13,265, according to Worldometer.

Nevertheless, Turkey has carried out more tests than any other country in the region except the UAE. The country's number of tests stands at 598,933 as 40,520 tests were conducted in a day. There are 1,894 intensive care patients and 1,054 intubated patients. So far, 10,453 people have recovered from Covid-19.

Restrictions have been extended for 31 cities

The Interior Ministry has extended restrictions on entry and exit by land, air and sea on 31 provinces for an additional 15 days to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

It announced the measure, effective midnight on the capital Ankara, as well as the provinces of Adana, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Muğla, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Urfa, Tekirdağ, Trabzon, Van and Zonguldak.

The ministry reiterated that in order to manage the risk of the Covid-19 pandemic, it would be critical that residents adhere to social isolation rules, reducing mobility and contact with others.

It is essential for all citizens living in these provinces to stay in their cities for the specified period, it underlined.

The novel coronavirus has spread to 185 countries and regions since emerging in China last December, with the US and Europe now the hardest-hit areas.

More than 2.28 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll exceeding 156 thousand and over 581 thousand recoveries, according to data compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

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What is a coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The most recently discovered coronavirus causes coronavirus disease Covid-19. The virus was named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. What is Covid-19? Covid-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. What are the symptoms? Covid-19 symptoms include cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches, sore throat, unexplained loss of taste or smell. How does Covid-19 spread? People can catch Covid-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with Covid-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch Covid-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Studies to date suggest that the virus is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air. How did the outbreak begin? Although health officials are still tracing the exact source of this new coronavirus, early hypotheses thought it may be linked to a seafood market in Wuhan. Some people who visited the market developed viral pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus. A study that came out on January 25, 2020, notes that the individual with the first reported case became ill on December 1, 2019, and had no link to the seafood market. Investigations are ongoing as to how this virus originated and spread. Sources: World Health Organization, Johns Hopkins University

(VK)