The coronavirus outbreak in Turkey is starting to reach a plateau and the country aims to return to normal life after the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in late May, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by state-owned Anadolu news agency on Tuesday. Turkeys confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease increased by 4,611 in the past 24 hours, and 119 more people have died, taking the death toll to 2,259, Health Ministry data showed on Tuesday. The total number of cases in the country stood at 95,591, the data showed, the highest total for any country outside Europe or the United States. A total of 14,918 people have recovered from the new coronavirus so far, and the number of tests carried out over the past 24 hours stood at 39,429. “This pandemic has become the biggest crisis since the Second World War in terms of its economic consequences,” Erdogan was cited as saying at a video conference meeting of his AK Party’s officials. “We aim to achieve maximum observance of measures during the month of Ramadan and, God willing, a transition to normal life for our country after the holiday (at the end of Ramadan),” he said. As part of efforts to tighten those measures, Erdogan said on Monday a four-day lockdown would be imposed in 31 cities from Thursday after similar stay-at-home orders were enforced over the last two weekends. Thursday is a national holiday in Turkey, while Friday marks the start of Ramadan. Turkish authorities said grocery shops will remain open until 2 pm on Thursday and Friday for people to make essential purchases.