Covid cases in Turkey hit annual peak this week after safety measures dropped

Two weeks ago President Erdogan eased measures put in place to curb the pandemic

Ameera Darweesh, a 63-year old Jordanian woman living in Turkey, receives the first dose of Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus disease vaccine at a healthcare centre in the Mediterranean town of Alanya, Turkey. ReutersShow less

The number of new daily coronavirus cases in Turkey hit the highest point this year on Wednesday, Health Ministry data showed. The new figures were announced 10 days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced an easing of measures to curb the pandemic.

The number of new cases, at 14,556, was the highest since the end of last year and nearly double the numbers a month ago.

Mr Erdogan announced a partial opening of schools, cafes and restaurants last week.

Ankara also eased weekend lockdowns after the number of new daily cases fell below 10,000.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca blamed the rise in case numbers on faster spreading Covid-19 variants.

"Mutated viruses increased the rate of spread," he said. More than 40,000 people, the minister said, had been infected by the variant identified in Britain, as well as much smaller numbers by those identified in South Africa and Brazil.

Wednesday's data showed 67 people died because of Covid-19 in the past 24-hour period, raising the death toll to 29,227.

Turkey, with a population of 83 million, has administered 10.41 million vaccine doses in a campaign that began in mid-January.

More than 7.7 million people have received a first shot and nearly 2.6 million a second dose of the vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech.