CHP leader calls for 'stay-at-home' order over virus

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on March 28 called for a stay-at-home order after coronavirus cases jumped by a third in a day.

"At this stage, it is evident that we need a comprehensive, wide and effective stay-at-home and quarantine," Kılıçdaroğlu said in a statement.

"It is not possible to solve this issue with campaigns like 'Stay Home Turkey' and by leaving it to the will and initiative of our citizens while not providing any wage or job security and abandoning them to fate," he said.

The CHP leader called on the government to take stricter measures.

"The issue has gone from a 'Stay Home' stage to a 'Keep Them Home' degree now," he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a series of new measures on March 27, from halted that Turkey halted inter-city trains to limited flights.

Erdoğan urged Turkish citizens to stay at home except for shopping or basic needs to help contain the fast-growing outbreak.

The rate of increase in infections in Turkey has outstripped many other countries in the last two weeks, with 2,069 more cases in the last 24 hours, the country's health minister said on March 27.