NEWS CENTER - The two largest cities of Turkey, as well as Bursa, have made the use of face masks obligatory after the Ministry of Health's recommendation.

 

İstanbul, Ankara and Bursa today (June 17) made the use of face masks obligatory amid a new surge in coronavirus cases.

 

Statements by the governors of the three cities came late at night, following a recommendation by the Ministry of Health's Science Board. 

 

İstanbul, the largest city of the country, has also been affected by the pandemic the most, having more than half of all cases. Mask use in the city has already been mandated in closed spaces in public and private workplaces and in public transport.

 

As of tomorrow, those who don't appropriately wear face masks in open areas will be fined, according to a statement by the Governor's Office.

 

Ankara, the capital, and Bursa the second and the fourth most populated cities of Turkey, followed İstanbul to mandate face masks in open spaces.

 

Daily new coronavirus has been on the rise in the country over the past week following a series of reopening steps by the government at the start of this month.

 

With the new additions, it is now forbidden to go out without wearing face masks in following 47 out of 81 provinces: Adıyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Amasya, Ardahan, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bartın, Batman, Bolu, Burdur, Denizli, Düzce, Elazığ, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Iğdır, Isparta, Maraş, Karabük, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Konya, Kütahya, Malatya, Mardin, Muğla, Muş, Nevşehir, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Siirt, Sivas, Şırnak, Tunceli, Uşak, Zonguldak, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Kayseri, Rize, Urfa, Yalova and Bitlis.

 

Turkey's death toll rom the pandemic stands at 4,861 with a total of 182,727 cases.