Turkey's daily new COVID-19 cases near 56,000, at record high

Turkey recorded 55,941 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Thursday, the highest daily level in the country since the start of the pandemic.

Last week President Tayyip Erdogan announced a tightening of coronavirus restrictions, including the return of full nationwide weekend lockdowns during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on April 13.

The latest daily death toll was 258, bringing the cumulative toll to 33,201.