Daily coronavirus infections in Turkey soared past 40,000 cases – an all-time high, Health Ministry data showed Thursday.
The 40,806 new cases and 176 deaths mean Turkey is now in the throes of a third wave of the outbreak, which has officially killed 31,713 people in the nation of 83 million.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said this week that 75% of the new infections in Turkey were of the British variant, which is more infectious than previous strains.
The rising numbers forced President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday to announce a tightening of restrictions that had been eased at the start of March.
Erdoğan said full weekend lockdowns would be in place during the holy month of Ramadan, which is due to run from mid-April until mid-May.
Restaurants will be open for delivery and takeaway only.
Much of Turkey has entered the high-risk infection zone, including the capital Ankara and Istanbul.
Turkey's inoculation efforts, meanwhile, have slightly slowed down after a fast start. Around 9.3 million people have received the first dose and 7 million the full two doses by late Thursday.
Turkey has relied almost exclusively on the Chinese firm Sinovac's CoronaVac jab since launching its campaign in mid-January.
