Turkey’s COVID-19 deaths climb above 150 for first time since May

On Friday, the Turkish Health Ministry announced 157 deaths from the coronavirus, marking the first instance of more than 150 daily deaths since May 28.

The country also registered 21,372 new cases. On Friday, Turkish healthcare professionals administered 1.13 million doses as first, second, and third jabs. In total, some 32.4 million people have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, according to ministry data.

Turkey’s westernmost provinces have all pushed past a 75 percent rate of adults who have received at least one dose of the jab. Meanwhile, seven Kurdish-majority provinces and one northern province have remained below 55 percent.

The highest number of cases by province over a rolling seven days appears in direct correlation with the level of vaccination in the southeast, east, and central Anatolian regions.

A total of 51,253 people in Turkey have lost their lives due to COVID-19 since the pandemic started.