Turkey to start normalization from virus restrictions as of March 1

Turkey will start to gradually normalize from coronavirus restrictions as of March 1, Turkey's health minister said on Saturday.

Underlining that they are working carefully on normalization steps, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that the process will start with provincial public health councils dealing with four risk levels in line with Health Ministry criteria.

Announcing earlier this week an easing of restrictions starting in March, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said provinces will be categorized as low, medium, high, or very high risk based on infection rates and the vaccination process.

Since last December, Turkey has been implementing curfew on weeknights and weekends to curb the virus’ spread.

Since December 2019, when it first emerged, the pandemic has claimed more than 2.45 million lives in 192 countries and regions.