A placard placed on seats reserved for ministers with a notice reading, Please leave a seat vacant for your health. Keep your distance, prior to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan�s speech during a press conference held after the coordination meeting to fight against the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara on March 18, 2020

Turkey imposed a curfew on Saturday for its senior citizens and banned restaurants from serving at tables, extending measures against the coronavirus outbreak as the death toll more than doubled to 21 from nine a day earlier.

The number of confirmed cases rose 277 to 947, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that a total of 2,953 tests had been conducted in the previous 24 hours.

Let�s warn our elderly. The risk of death increases with age, he said.

Turkish interior ministry announced late on Saturday that all restaurants, pastry shops, and other similar food-service establishments can only offer takeaway service and delivery.

Turkey on Saturday suspended flights from 46 more countries and banned picnics and barbecues. It had already banned flights from 22 countries, closed schools, cafes and bars, banned mass prayers and indefinitely postponed matches in its main sports leagues.

The new flight ban applies, among others, to Canada and the northern part of Cyprus.

(Source: Reuters)