Turkey announces full lockdown from 29 April

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday announced a full closure starting from the evening of 29 April, in a bid to curb the spread of a fresh coronavirus outbreak.

Daily new infections in Turkey had peaked above 63,000 on 16 April before dropping sharply to below 39,000 on Sunday, while the daily death toll has remained above 300 for the past week. 

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said that the lockdown will last until 17 May, in contrast to previous weekend lockdowns and local curfews.

Erdoğan added that inter-city travel will also be restricted, and public inter-city transport will operate at 50% capacity, Hurriyet Daily news_copy reports.

Schools will also stop in-person education until the lockdown ends, he said.

However, the manufacturing and food sectors will be exempt from the restrictions.