OREANDA-NEWS. The Turkish authorities do not exclude the closure of the country to foreign tourists in the event of a sharp increase in the spread of the "delta" strain of the coronavirus, but so far this issue is not on the agenda, said the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

The daily increase in the incidence on April 16 in Turkey showed a maximum since the beginning of the pandemic, amounting to 63,082 cases, after which it began to gradually decline. In June-July, it stabilized at the level of 5-7 thousand. 

However, on Sunday, the Turkish Ministry of Health reported the maximum daily increase in coronavirus cases since the end of May - 7,680, 66 people died from COVID-19 per day. The head of the Turkish Ministry of Health, Fahrettin Koca, said earlier that the number of cases of infection with the COVID-19 delta strain in the country has almost tripled over the past week and reached 750.

"There is no guarantee of anything, and, of course, you need to watch what happens in a number of provinces with the Delta strain. However, on international flights, the situation throughout the country is taken into account. The priority is maximum vaccination. If it speeds up, Turkey will fully return. and the longer it takes, the longer it will take to normalize, "Ersoy said on CNN Turk, answering a question about the possibility of Turkey closing this season due to the spread of a new strain.

However, according to him, so far "everything is going well."

“We expect to receive 25 million tourists this year, generating $ 20 billion in revenue. But my personal goal is 30 million tourists and 23 billion in revenue. We closed June in accordance with our expectations. For July, we have ambitious goals that, apparently, they will also be achieved, judging by the data that we receive data from the airports, "the Turkish minister added.

It is recalled that from June 22 to Turkey from Russia began to operate regular and charter flights.