Turkey registers 15,118 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily rise since mid-November

Turkey's health ministry has registered 15,118 new positive tests for COVID-19 on Saturday, the lowest single-day increase since mid-November.

The latest increase to the case total is a significant decrease from the 17,543 new positive tests registered on Friday and continues a downward trend in new infections after a record 33,198 new cases were confirmed on December 8.

Since the start of the pandemic, Turkish public health officials have reported more than 2.1 million cases of COVID-19. The country's death toll currently stands at 19,624, after 253 new fatalities were registered on Saturday.

Earlier in December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced a four-day lockdown over the New Year holidays as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The curfew is expected to begin on the evening of December 31 and run until the morning of January 4.

The governor of Istanbul, Ali Yerlikaya, said this past Tuesday that Turkey's largest city had already passed the peak of its second COVID-19 wave. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )