Turkey's Erdogan says new pandemic measures not being considered as cases rise

ISTANBUL - Turkey recorded 15,503 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest daily rise this year, official data showed, as President Tayyip Erdogan said no new restrictions against the pandemic would be imposed for now.

Erdogan acknowledged the recent rise in cases over the past two weeks since restrictions were eased in many provinces on March 1, when daily cases were just below 10,000 across Turkey. He said despite a rise in cases in some provinces, hospitalisations, and intensive care unit and intubation levels had not increased. "We decided to continue the current practice in our cities in today's meeting and to closely follow the developments," Erdogan told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.