Turkey reports 37,303 coronavirus cases, its record single-day infections

Turkey reported 37,303 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, breaking its record of single-day infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to its health ministry.

Among the new cases are 1,376 symptomatic patients, and the total number in the country has reached 3,277,880.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 155 to 31,385, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,995,033 after 19,925 more recovered in the last 24 hours.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stands at 3.6 percent and the number of seriously ill patients is 2,054 in the country, said the ministry.

A total of 235,298 tests were conducted over the past day, taking the overall number of tests for coronavirus in Turkey to 38,338,045.

On Monday, the government decided to tighten restrictions, including extending weekend lockdowns, amid a hike in the number of infections after Turkey eased measures on March 1.

The country started mass vaccination against COVID-19 on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of China's Sinovac vaccine. More than 8,889,000 people have been vaccinated so far.