ANKARA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkey confirmed 996 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the total diagnosed cases to 231,869, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
Meanwhile, 19 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,710, Koca tweeted.
Turkish health professionals conducted 44,846 tests in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests to 4,845,669, he said.
A total of 981 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 215,516 in Turkey since the outbreak, Koca added.
The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients is 8.7 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 586, he stated.
Turkey reported the first COVID-19 case on March 1.
Turkey and China have supported each other in the fight against COVID-19.
Chinese doctors and medical experts held video conferences with Turkish counterparts to share China's experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus. Enditem
