Turkey imposes 48-hour lockdown for cities

Turkey imposed a complete 48-hour lockdown in 31 of the nation’s provinces on Saturday as the coronavirus pandemic spreads in their country.

“We urge all citizens who live in these 31 provinces to comply with this weekend’s lockdown without panicking,” Fahrettin Altun, the country’s communications director, said on Twitter.

Bu geceden itibaren 31 ilimizde uygulanacak sokağa çıkma yasağı sadece 48 saatliğine olup; fırın, eczane gibi vatandaşlarımızın acil ya da temel ihtiyaçlarının karşılanacağı işletmeler bu yasak sırasında faaliyetlerine devam edecektir.

— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) April 10, 2020

The shutdown went into effect Friday night at midnight local time. According to The New York Times, citizens were given a two-hour notice of the shutdown.

Videos on social media show people in Istanbul and other cities rushing to grocery stores in large crowds before the lockdown took effect.

Videos coming out of Istanbul show huge crowds at in the streets & at grocery shops as ppl try to stock up on food ahead of a total lockdown.

At 10 pm, Turkey announced a 48 hr total curfew across 30 cities including Ankara, Istanbul & Izmir in effect from midnight. #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/YHcQ8mtQ9B

— Arwa Ibrahim (@arwaib) April 10, 2020

Bakeries, pharmacies, health facilities, certain energy companies and some gas stations were allowed to continue operating during the shutdown.

As of Saturday morning, Turkey has reported more than 47,000 cases of the coronavirus and 1,006 deaths.