ANKARA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.
"I would like to emphasize that the pandemic currently affects our social life much less than before," the minister told reporters at a press conference in the capital Ankara.
The fight against the coronavirus will rely especially on vaccines, Koca said after a meeting of Turkey's COVID-19 science board.
The country will fight the pandemic by individual measures and the citizens without symptoms will not be tested, he said.
Accordingly, the outdoor mask requirement is lifted, while masks will not be mandatory indoors when there is enough ventilation and if the distance rule is respected, Koca said.
A contact tracing app code will no longer be required while entering shopping malls or other public venues. It will be enough to isolate infected students and education will continue in their classes.
Turkey has been gradually easing coronavirus restrictions since 2021, while Omicron has become the dominant variant in the country. In January, the Turkish government abolished the PCR test requirement for screening purposes and for close contacts of COVID-positive individuals.
The test requirement for unvaccinated individuals is lifted to access public events.
Furthermore, Turkey has shortened the isolation period of COVID-19 patients to seven days.
Turkey on Wednesday confirmed 56,780 new COVID-19 cases and the death toll from the virus rose by 189.
