Turkey Imposes 48-hour Lockdown in Major Cities to Curb Coronavirus

By Staff, Agencies

Dozens of Turkish cities, including Istanbul, were placed under lockdown for two days from midnight on Friday to combat the spread of the coronavirus, as the country's death toll from the pandemic crossed 1,000.

The restrictions, which will last until midnight on Sunday, were imposed in 31 provinces across the country and scaled up existing curbs, under which people under the age of 20 and over 65 have been told to stay at home.

Detailing specifics of the lockdown, the Turkish interior ministry in a statement said bakeries, pharmacies and health facilities would be excluded from the ban, enabling people to meet essential needs.

Strategic energy companies, distribution firms and some petrol stations would also be allowed to keep operating, and people working in such places were exempted from the lockdown, it said.

"It is essential that all other citizens remain in their homes aside from the specified exemptions," the statement said.

Ankara has also halted all international flights, restricted domestic travel, closed schools, bars and cafes, and suspended mass prayers. But people have still been going to work to sustain economic activity.

"We urge all citizens who live in these 31 provinces to comply with this weekend's lockdown without panicking," the country's communications director Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter.

He called on people to maintain physical distancing in the brief time before the lockdown went into effect. However, soon after news of the move emerged, many left their homes to buy food and drink in the country's commercial hub Istanbul, a city of more than 15 million people.