Covid-19: Turkey is partially reconfigured after an explosion of cases in Istanbul

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara on November 17, 2020. Presidential Press Office / Handout via REUTERS

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2 min

Partial confinement, restaurants prohibited from welcoming customers, remote school ... Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday, November 17, new measures against the coronavirus pandemic, in particular in Istanbul.

For several weeks, associations of doctors have sounded the alarm bells on the explosion of cases.

Officially, Turkey has more than 420,000 cases and 11,700 deaths, a figure far below the reality, according to the mayor of the country's largest city.

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With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Anne Andlauer

For the moment, it is a

partial

reconfinement

, even more limited than that which

Turkey had known in the spring

.

Turks will be subject to a curfew between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m., but only on weekends.

Young people under 20, like those over 65, will only be able to go out for a few hours a day, with the exception of those who work.

The teaching will be done remotely until the end of December.

Restaurants and cafes will only be able to offer take-out sales.

Shopping centers, supermarkets and hairdressers will lower the curtains at 8 p.m., while cinemas will remain closed until the end of the year.

The

President Erdogan

has justified these measures by calling the health situation as " 

very serious

 ", referring to the " 

level of concern

 " in the number of cases and deaths, " 

particularly in Istanbul

 ."

The official number of deaths in 24 hours rose above the 100 mark on Tuesday, a first since the end of April.

But medical organizations have accused the Turkish authorities for months of concealing the true extent of the epidemic.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu

, coming from

the opposition

, said last week that the actual number of deaths in Istanbul was every day than the one announced by the government for the entire country.

►

To read also

: Ekrem Imamoglu, the anti-Erdogan elected mayor of Istanbul

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  • Turkey

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan

  • Coronavirus

  • Confinement

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