Erdogan: Turkey is nearing end of virus outbreak

Turkey has successfully managed the course of the novel coronavirus pandemic and is nearing the end of the outbreak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

"The picture after the normalisation steps we took shows that we are on the right track,” said Erdogan.

Addressing members of his governing Justice and Development (AK) Party via video conference, Erdogan thanked the public for staying at home during a four-day curfew over the holiday.

Turkey imposed a four-day nationwide curfew during the Eid holiday beginning at midnight on Friday to curb the spread.

Praising Turkey's health sector investments, Erdogan asserted that these had turned out to be prudent in the fight against the coronavirus.

"I believe that we will overcome this epidemic period with the least damage through this (new normal) lifestyle, that we can summarise as wearing masks, compliance with physical distance, attention to cleanliness," Erdogan added.

Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 213 countries and territories.

US, Brazil and Russia along with several European countries have been hit the hardest.

There are currently 157,814 confirmed cases in Turkey and 4,369 deaths, according to the country's health ministry.