ISTANBUL, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's biggest city Istanbul with a population of 16 million spent Sunday under lockdown in line with the government's measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several on-duty officials, press members, and police forces were seen patrolling the city's usually most crowded spots, while avenues, streets, and district centers were all deserted.
"We can say that Istanbulites this weekend have fully complied with the curfew," a local journalist told Xinhua. "The entire city was left to birds."
Taking advantage of the curfew, city workers carried out several asphalt paving works on some streets and highways, the Istanbul municipality said at a written statement.
Numerous teams were in the field during the lockdown by following the social distancing rule and wearing facial masks, the statement added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said the government would continue to impose curfews on 31 provinces on weekends until the end of May.
This weekend, the restriction was three days as it comprehended International Labor Day, which was marked on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that it extended the travel restrictions for 31 provinces until Monday midnight.
The government will decide whether to pursue the limitation at a cabinet meeting, which will be chaired by the president the next day, the ministry said at a written statement.
According to Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin, the government would also consider easing the curfew for elderly people at the age of 65 and over.
They might be able to go outside on certain days and hours, Kalin was quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News as saying.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Sunday said at a tweet that Turkey has reported 1,670 new COVID-19 cases and 61 more deaths during the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 126,045 and the death toll to 3,397. Enditem
