Turkey extends entry, exit restrictions on 31 provinces

ANKARA

Turkey on Saturday 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.

The Interior Ministry announced the measure, effective midnight on the capital Ankara, as well as the provinces of Adana, Antalya, Aydin, Balikesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Tekirdag, 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 U.S. and Europe now the hardest-hit areas.

More than 2.28 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll exceeding 156,000 and over 581,000 recoveries, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev