Since July, Ankara has only reported symptomatic COVID-19 patients, a move critics say hides the true scale of the outbreak On Tuesday, President Tayyip Erdogan announced tighter restrictions, including the introduction of weekend curfews ANKARA: Turkey’s daily death toll from the coronavirus hit a record high of 141 on Friday, according to data from the Health Ministry, as the country braced for nationwide measures amid a surge in cases in recent weeks. The data showed 5,103 new COVID-19 patients were recorded in the country, while the overall death toll rose to 12,084. Since July, Ankara has only reported symptomatic COVID-19 patients, a move critics say hides the true scale of the outbreak. On Tuesday, President Tayyip Erdogan announced the tighter restrictions, including the introduction of weekend curfews and limitations on the opening hours of restaurants, cafes and shopping malls.