Health minister tests positive for COVID-19

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19, in a latest social media post.

Koca said he tested positive for coronavirus five days ago and affirmed that he will continue to work on the recent regulation on health workers' rights via online meetings.

"Soon, I will be among my friends," the minister said.

A total of 143,778 COVID-19 cases were reported in Türkiye between Aug. 8 and 14, the Health Ministry said in its weekly coronavirus statistics.

According to the ministry's data, 342 COVID-19 patients lost their lives, while nearly 260,000 people recovered from the infection between Aug. 8 and 14.

Since the first COVID-19 case was reported in March 2020, the coronavirus has infected more than 16.6 million people and killed over 100,000 in Türkiye.

With COVID-19 numbers rising again, the Health Ministry opened up booster shot appointments to increase the number of vaccinations administered.

Any of the BioNTech, Sinovac, or Turkovac vaccines can be chosen for the booster shot, which will be the sixth dose for those aged 65 and over and those in high-risk groups.

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