Erdogan: Turkey to start lifting COVID curbs in March

Turkey’s president says a plan on reopening cafes and restaurants, shut down for months, is to be announced soon.

Turkey will begin a gradual return to normal life on a province-by-province basis from March, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who added that nationwide weekend COVID-19 lockdowns would be lifted in some provinces based on infection rates. Turkey imposed curfews, weekend lockdowns and other curbs in December as cases rose sharply. It plans to reopen schools nationwide on March 1 and its vaccination programme has so far administered shots to nearly 5.7 million people using shots developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan said a plan on reopening cafes and restaurants, which have been shut down for months, would be announced in the days and urged citizens to continue abiding by the measures.