Turkey quarantines 138,000 people amid Covid-19 pandemic

A total of 138,000 Turkish citizens have been quarantined across the nation as part of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, the country's interior minister said on Thursday.

Out of them, 122,500 people are quarantined at 180 locations nationwide, while the others stay in dormitories, Suleyman Soylu added.

He said 85-90 percent of the public was self-isolating on weekdays across major cities.

Penalties were imposed on 26,000 people who violated the lockdown orders, he added.

Soylu went on to say 10 million masks were being distributed every day, and the same amount was being produced while they are trying to raise the production to 20 million units.

Turkey confirmed on Thursday that 96 more people died from coronavirus in the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 908.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases surged to 42,282 as 4,056 more people tested positive for the virus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a tweet.

So far, a total of 2,142 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.