ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd January, 2021) Turkey has recorded 15 cases of the new strain of the coronavirus, which was firstly detected in the United Kingdom, national Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said.
"15 people, who had arrived from the United Kingdom, have been diagnosed with the UK mutation of the coronavirus. The travels from this country to Turkey are temporarily banned," the minister said in a statement on late Friday.
Within the past 24 hours, Turkey has confirmed 1,908 new coronavirus cases, with 212 fatalities.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 83.8 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1.82 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In mid-December, the United Kingdom discovered the new strain of the coronavirus, which is 70 percent more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 variants. The spread of the new strain urged many countries to boost coronavirus-linked restrictions.
