ERDOGAN EXTENDS LOCKDOWN ONE MORE WEEKEND

ISTANBUL Turkey will impose a fresh lockdown next weekend as part of measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, after a 48-hour curfew that ended at midnight.

The curfew covered all Turkey’s major cities including its commercial hub Istanbul, which is home to 16 million residents. People had rushed to shops to stock up on supplies on Friday, when the weekend lockdown was announced at short notice.

Erdogan said another lockdown would be imposed next weekend and more may be in store for Turkey and that measures would be taken to ensure that a similar scramble is not repeated.

“In our cabinet meeting, we have decided to continue the weekend lockdowns when deemed necessary,” he said.

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Turkey rose to 61,049 on Monday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, while the death toll reached 1,296.