Turkey's foreign minister tests positive for COVID-19

Turkey's foreign minister says he has tested positive for the coronavirus

Turkey’s foreign minister announced Wednesday that he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, 54, said on Twitter that his symptoms were mild and that he planned to continue to work from home.

The announcement came a day after Cavusoglu returned from the United Arab Emirates, where he had accompanied Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on an official visit.

Erdogan, 67, himself traveled to the UAE after recovering from COVID-19 last week.

Daily COVID-19 infections in Turkey have been hovering around the 100,000 mark in recent weeks, due to the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. In late December, the number of daily cases stood at about 20,000.

The country is also seeing a rise in the number of virus-related deaths. Turkey reported 309 deaths on Tuesday, the most since May.

“Thankfully, my illness is mild. I will continue to work from home for a while without interrupting (my schedule,)” Cavusoglu said.