Turkey ends nationwide weekend coronavirus curfew

Turkey ended a nationwide weekend curfew early Monday aimed at helping to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The curfew began on Friday at 9 p.m. (1800GMT) and ended on Monday at 5 a.m. local time (0200GMT).

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Nov. 30 announced new coronavirus restrictions, including a curfew on weeknights and full weekend curfews.

Some sectors including production, supply, health and agriculture are exempt, said Erdogan.

Supermarkets, grocery stores, butchers and dried fruit shops operate between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekends.

Bakeries are also open during weekend curfews.

Restaurants, meanwhile, only offer delivery service between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The announcement came after a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey.

The curfews will continue until a new decision is taken.

On Sunday, Turkey reported 26,919 more COVID-19 infections, including 5,103 symptomatic patients, and saw 218 more deaths over the past 24 hours.

Since first emerging in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19 has claimed over 1.61 million lives in 191 countries and regions.

More than 72.18 million cases have been reported worldwide, with over 47.19 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

While the US, India and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of cases, Europe is in the grip of a devastating second wave of infections.