Turkish president warns of tighter measure if COVID-19 outbreak grows

ISTANBUL - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said if the outbreak of COVID-19 becomes more widespread in the country, tighter measures will be inevitable.

"We have partially limited inter-city transportation and if needed, we can implement similar methods in urban transportation as well," Erdogan said while attending his party meeting via tele-conference from Istanbul.

Erdogan reiterated his call on the nation to stay at home and maintain social distance as part of the measures taken to restrain the outbreak of COVID-19.

"If each of our citizens adopts voluntary quarantine, further measures would not be required," he added.

Last week, Erdogan announced that the inter-city travel across the country was restricted and became subject to the permission of governors in each province as part of the fight against the coronavirus.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey has climbed to 214, and the number of confirmed cases has risen to 13,531 on Tuesday.